Even before Hugo Chavez, Robert Mugabe and Evo Morales took the stage in Copenhagen this week, it was clear that the summit was bordering on failure with watered-down language, lack of commitments and refusals to deal by many parties ensuring that what were once visions of glory had evaporated into thoughts of what could have been. However, appearances by the dictators sent the meetings into farcical territory and truly underscored what a sham the process has become.
Many people will point to a lack of a firm commitment by Barack Obama, outrageous demands by the Chinese, or the wait and see policy of Europe as the reasons behind the failure to accomplish anything of substance in Denmark. However, the enduring image of the meetings might very well be Chavez's comparison of Obama to the devil, and presumably George W. Bush, or Mugabe and his colorful descriptions of the evils of capitalism.
For those climate change sceptics who followed the deterioration of the Copenhagen Summit with glee, nothing could have been more welcome than seeing some of the worlds most notable human rights violators and stiflers of dissent marching in lockstep against the powers they rely upon for climate change funding and whose blessing will be required for any deal of substance to ever become a reality. As long as this type of coddling of those who make a mockery of the process continues, those proponents of a strong binding agreement will continue to fail in their endeavors.
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