Final Word from Monday, December 14, 2009
Few things have divided the West in recent weeks as much as climate change. It's possible to argue for days about the degree to which carbon emissions are raising the temperature, and for days more about whether trillions of dollars should be devoted to slowing the real or imagined problem. Not as much time is spent on the disproportional degree to which the West will fund the intervention. Global warming has become another case for global redistribution of wealth, and this will put another nail in the coffin of Euro-American civilization. China is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide but has argued that it shouldn't have to take on legally binding commitments the way developed countries should. Until yesterday, China was seeking Western money for itself, and it's still asking for funding on behalf of other developing countries. To pay them, the West will need to borrow more money, some of which will no doubt come from China. So far, the heavily indebted CR will need to come up with only €12m to make its contribution.[Czech Republic Europe United States of America]
Glossary of difficult words
climate-change equality - to improve global equality, some politicians argue that rich countries should contribute to the poor countries that will be affected the most by climate change;
intervention - action taken to improve a situation;
nail in the coffin - an action or event likely to have a detrimental or destructive effect on a situation.