Nobody of any real importance is going to Rio

Nobody of any real importance is going to the (hopefully) last UN mega sustainability/climate change conference about to open in Rio de Janeiro next week.Other, more urgent matters need the attention of world leaders: 


Next week, the world of environmental summitry descends again on Rio de Janeiro, for what is being described as “Earth Summit +20”. But the mood is very different. Barack Obama, David Cameron and Angela Merkel are not expected to attend; Obama’s presence in particular is deemed counter-productive to his re-election bid, as the Democrat president attempts to win over climate-sceptic voters in swing states


Still, among the 50,000 or so global warming/sustainability tourists expected to arrive in Rio, there are a number enviro-fundamentalists who act and speak like nothing would have changed, among them the Scottish minister for climate change, Stewart Stevenson. He seems to live in a parallel universe, full of imaginary "green" jobs and abundant (non-existent) renewable energy:

The aim is to establish the credentials of the “green economy”. The Scottish Government is to form part of the UK’s delegation to the summit, also known as the Conference on Sustainable Development, keen to promote its own credentials as a promoter of low-carbon growth. Stewart Stevenson, the minister for environment and climate change, says: “The low-carbon economy offers a huge opportunity for us, creating tens of thousands of jobs and re-industrialising our economy. And as we create green jobs at home we are helping other countries develop renewable energy, and also tackling the devastating impact of climate change on the world’s poorest. It is this joined-up vision that I will take to Rio.”


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