Financial crisis darkens outlook for climate talks

Agence France-Presse: Wall Street's sickness and its contagiousness for the world economy are bad news for the already faltering effort to craft a new pact to tackle climate change. Tighter budgets, shrinking corporate profits and worries about jobs could crimp manoeuvering room at upcoming UN talks on toughening curbs on greenhouse-gas emissions, sources say.

But -- so far, at least -- the crisis does not appear to be having an impact on investment in clean technology, say these sources. Indeed, some are confident that spending on wind, solar and other renewables may even rise.

Running in Poznan, Poland, from December 1-12, the talks are a stepping stone towards a treaty to brake emissions from fossil fuels beyond 2012 and support developing countries in climate change's firing line. But curbing pollution and stumping up money for the poor entails economic sacrifice. And the financial hurricane that swept through New York last month and now buffets the real economy could sap some of the will to make it.

…Steve Sawyer, secretary general of a Brussels-based industry group, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), predicted some governments might invoke the crisis to tiptoe away from their commitments. "Some politicians will try to use the current crisis and seemingly inevitable slowdown to draw attention away from their failure to act on future and current commitments," he said. "But regardless of what politicians believe at any given moment, global warming is in fact a challenge that cannot be ducked."…

A cumulonimbus cloud over Africa, shot by a crewmember on Expedition 16 on the International Space Station. NASA, Wikimedia Commons