Environmentalists, in the absence of a specific emissions target, may conclude that there is now the risk of a real seizing up on prospects for combating global warming; as a stakeholder put it, there is a road map which lacks both signposts and a common destination. Such gloom may not be justified, since existing commitments to targets don’t seem to be delivering anyway, and appreciation that helping developing countries will be critical for meeting long-term goals is a breakthrough not to be balked at. The task is to ensure that rich countries are not allowed to get away with only making grandstanding commitments like, say, for the Millennium Development Goals, and that concomitant funding for serious undertakings given at Bali will be made available. Pessimism will be warranted if that does not happen.

The writer is a climate change researcher

urjitpatel@hotmail.com