Copenhagen was the triumph of politics over good business. The best indication of that is the price of carbon.
As the Financial Times reports, carbon has crashed through the floor, down as much as 10% post Copenhagen.
Why is this the case? It's simple supply and demand economics. Carbon cutting targets were not lifted in the wake of Copenhagen. If carbon targets are lifted, the price goes goes up because it becomes scarcer. Worse still, the lack of any international framework puts the carbon market in limbo. What Copenhagen did was declare that global temperatures would rise to within 2C of pre-industrial levels. But it's failed to tell us how this will be achieved. It left emission reduction declarations to the end of January. And even if that happens, those declarations won't be legally binding.
As the BBC tells us, it's done nothing for investment in green technology. Investors are left guessing at the likely future price of carbon and polluters, like airlines and power companies don't yet know whether upgrading to cleaner technology will be economically worthwhile.
no comment untill now