The Kyoto accord is an archtypal fig-leaf, just enough cover to carry on regardless, without making the slightest practical difference. As it doesn't include the US, China, Inda, and a host of smaller developing countries, it's totally useless.

The idea of helping to limit population growth in developing coutries was dismissed as beneath contempt somewhere above. It's not. Risisng populations throughout Africa have acted as one of the biggest triggers of poverty, enviromental degredation, and wars. Doing something to control that sounds good, but HIV is doing so quite well on it's own.

Trying to get people to curb their lifestyles and demand less is going to be very, very hard. It will take time we don't have, so we need to make our lifestyle less damaging. I belive the only practical measure we can take is a heavily industrial one.

The West needs to start a massive programme of building carbon-free power stations, renewables where it's practical, and nuclear where it's not. Let the Chinese ignore the patents as they do so often, and build them as well. The loss in missed licence fee's is less than the flood defense for Lousiana and Holland will cost if they carry on building dirty coal stations.