On this day 20 years ago, a denialist/delay-ist bunch of idiots gathered at Parliament House… The conference was sponsored by Xstrata and ExxonMobil…. (further gory details here)
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 382ppm. As of 2025 it is 427ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the Kyoto Protocol had finally come into effect thanks to the Russians saying yes in exchange for World Trade Organisation membership. This meant that formal negotiations for a “post-Kyoto” protocol/agreement would be beginning soon.
Meanwhile though, Australia and the UK were on the outer, and scrambling to come up with plausible sounding “ways forward” (mostly involving fantasy technologies. Meanwhile, the denialists were still thick … on the ground.
This event is kind of a sequel to a 1997 conference “Countdown to Kyoto”, with overlapping attendees and presenters.
What we learn Morons gonna moron. And scumbags gonna lie (down) with morons.
What happened next The scumbaggery continued. The emissions climbed, and the consequences began to rock up. So it went.
References
Australian APEC Study Centre – SourceWatch
This from Jennifer Marohasy
Mixing Views on Climate – Jennifer Marohasy
Papers from the Managing Climate Change: Practicalities and Realities in a post-Kyoto Future conference held in Canberra on 4th April are now available at Tech Central Station.
This is perhaps a first conference where acknowledged ‘climate skeptics’ including Professor Bob Carter have given papers alongside Australian government representatives including Dr Brian Fisher from ABARE.
A delegate from the Chinese embassy spoke about the need for China to reduce its reliance on coal as an energy source and China’s intension to build possibly 6 new nuclear power stations over the next 15 years.
Senior Cliamte Negotiator from the US Department of State gave an interesting and fairly technical paper on US policy directions.
Papers also include a contribution from author of Taken by Storm and key contributor to the ‘hockey stick’ debate, Canadian Ross McKitrick.
The conference papers are supplemented with Background papers that include an analysis of global carbon trading prospects.
The “Tech Central” link takes you to this
April 4, 1964 – Revelle’s PSAC Working Group Five
April 4, 1957 – New Scientist runs story on carbon dioxide build-up
April 4, 1964 – President Johnson’s Domestic Council on climate…
April 4, 1978 – UK Chief Scientific Advisor worries about atmospheric C02 build-upApril 4 – Interview with Ro Randal about “Living With Climate Crisis