Guest Thinkers — December 5, 2010

Cancun Climate Talks

Developing nations accuse the West of intransigence, as corruption is cited as obstacle to progress. The Independent reports on climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico.

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Environment ministers from around the world flew in to Mexico yesterday for the final days of the climate-change talks in Cancun, which threatened to fracture over Chinese-led demands for concessions from the West. Campaigners marched in London yesterday to demand action. As a sign of the work still to be done, only 170 words out of 1,300 on two pages of a key text were undisputed on the “shared vision” of what delegates hoped to accomplish. However, a further issue is now being cited as a significant obstacle in the fight against climate change—corruption.

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