The annual gathering of politicals and upper echelon bureaucrats, captains of industry and finance, and celebrities (such as Hollywood luvvies) in attendance at Davos is remarkable. Mixing with that toxic brew are environmentalist big wigs with all expenses paid by deep pocket sponsors, leading figures in Greenpeace and FoE and various other NGOs. They are all attending a great jamboree with lots of expensive wines and malt whiskies, and the sort of food that owes more to appearance than substance. This is Davos (held at an expensive Swiss ski resort) a gathering of the elite and the pretentious. They call it the 2017 World Economic Forum – but it is really just a get together of the rich and influential mulling over how to fleece Joe Public of his pennies. Billions and billions of dollars are at stake – in potential profits and greasing of palms. The Paris Agreement raised the ante we are told – see https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-15/ignoring-trump-s-skep…
Is the Paris Agreement all about making it easier to make a fortune from renewable energies or not? Where are the anti-globalisation protesters when you need them? Too busy opposing Trump's inauguration and campaigning against Brexit it would seem. Achieving the ambitions mapped out in Paris may require 13.5 trillion dollars in spending from now to 2030 according to the Energy Agency. You know whose wallets are going to be plundered – and it ain't the folks enjoying themselves at Davos. The rich are stroking the rich, purring amongst each other like cats around a bowl of cream. In 2016 clean energy investment was around $287 billion dollars, according to data gathered by Bloomberg. Money making opportunities are on the rise it is hoped, as a result of Paris, and nobody seems to be surprised at the attendance of the wonderful Al Gore, shaking hands all round and grinning broadly. They will claim they are there to talk about saving the world from climate change but as Bloomberg admits the real agenda is about how to profit from climate change. Indeed, it would seem climate change is a core part of the 'growth' agenda – and you thought it was all about cutting back on emissions and buying stale organic vegetables.
Michael Oppenheimer, a professor at Princetown University, will be closely involved in the shenanigans, organising this and that. He told the Bloomberg journalist that despite the arrival of Trump on the US political scene the fight against global warming will continue. He said Trump can harm progress but he didn't expect it to stop progress. The use of the word 'progress' is interesting here as it seems to be code for troughing. However, he continues by saying other countries such as Saudi Arabia and China are going to take up the CAGW baton. They have apparently vowed to step up efforts to fight global warming, so much so one has to wonder if he is on a different planet. Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer of oil in the world – the only reason they wish to fight climate change is to get American fracking shut down (as it is becoming too much of a rival). Same with China. All they want to do is keep supplying N America and Europe with rare earths (for bird mincers) and cheap solar panels (that only last a couple of years before ending up in landfill). Of course, Oppenheimer knows this full well – but does he think the plebs are thick or what. Who on earth would believe China is serious about cutting back on co2 emissions when they are still building coal powered plants at a pace that is breathtaking. Then there is India, keen to copy the Chinese model.
The attendees of the Davos jamboree, it seems, are determined to ignore Trump – and blunder on regardless. If cutting co2 levels was really what Davos is all about why are so many executives from oil companies at the bean feast? It remains to be seen if Trump sticks to the climate sceptic line he extolled during and before the election but who might twist his arm? Well, there are 600 major US companies and multi nationals at the jamboree and they say they have urged Trump to change his tune – but will he?