Only more hot air expected

People should not raise their hopes that any real progress will be made at the Durban conference on climate change

As the last United Nations conference on climate change before the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, the ongoing conference in Durban, South Africa, bears people's hopes that all world members will uphold their responsibilities for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

However, a new global economic recession since the onset of this year, the high unemployment rate in the United States, the increased risk of the collapse of the euro amid the deteriorating debt crisis in some eurozone countries and political unrest across the world, have cast a long shadow over the prospects of the Durban meeting.