Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Putting the cart before the horse

Today's climate idiocy concerns plans to set up an African agency to manage the hundreds of millions of dollars that some expect to come our way. The money is supposed to come from developed nations who feel guilty about having polluted our atmosphere. We Africans may have made a small contribution to the pollution, but it is as nothing to what the developed have done.

Of course it would be nice to have lots of lovely lolly to throw around - but the chances of us actually getting any seem vanishingly small. The developed nations are going through a financial crisis of their own making. They are certainly not in a position to start sending us cash to build our infrastructure or offset any damage caused by their emissions or any excuse for being generous. Right now they face citizens most unhappy with the loss of unaffordable entitlements, but they are having to bite the bullet because the money is just not there - they threw it away, and have no more to throw.

So setting up a new agency is just another example of wasting money on pipe dreams - first make certain you have the money in your paw, then agree on how you are going to administer it (and make certain it gets spent wisely).

Incidentally, the Copenhagen Accord was predicated on money flowing. It isn't going to, so the Accord is as dead as the late (un)lamented Kyoto Protocol.

About Me

A happy man who spends most of his time being a technocrat and helping developing nations develop, and then reading and writing and travelling. Some of the time I am indeed a "Nutty Prof" sharing the fun I have had with the students who will inherit this world from me and my generation.