Twenty six years ago, on this day, November 13th, 2000,
According to Graeme Pearman, Australia’s senior climate scientist and head of its greenhouse research effort, not much. On ABC `7.30 Report’ last night (13th) he concluded –
Dr Graeme Pearman: “The reality of the protocol as it is at the moment, is even if all of the nations were able to achieve those targets, it would hardly make any difference.”
[Veil of Kyoto article]
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 370ppm. As of 2026, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that there had been an attempt to get a global climate treaty with teeth in the period 1989 to 1992 There was a treaty, but the teeth had been taken out by the American dentist known as George H. W. Bush. He had insisted that there be no targets and timetables for emission emissions reductions by rich countries in the treaty text. If there were, he said he would boycott the Earth Summit, and so they were taken out. You were left with this process whereby targets and timetables had to be negotiated later, and this achingly slow progress had culminated, for what it was worth, in the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 and here we were three years later,
The specific context was the US election had been held, but it wasn’t clear who had won.
What I think we can learn from this as predicted, our global institutions have not succeeded in the vital and somewhat difficult task of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
What happened next George W. Bush, thanks to his dad’s mates on the Supreme Court, became president. The emissions kept on climbing and climbing and climbing.
On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays
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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
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Also on this day:
November 13, 1946 – first human-made snowstorm
November 13, 1963 – Ritchie Calder warns of trouble ahead because of carbon dioxide…
November 13, 1975 – climate testimony to House of Reps committee
November 13, 1995 – no Aussie savings of greenhouse gases so far
November 13, 2000- Kyoto “would hardly make any difference.“