It's time to accept that international summits are a failed model.
They are where good intentions go to die.
They don't spur governments to act.
They relieve of them of the need for action.
30 years of broken promises should tell us: this isn't working.
Summits hoover up the time and energy of vast numbers of good people, pulling them away from workable solutions to our great predicaments.
Premiers love them, as they can bestride the world stage.
Journalists love them, because they are obsessed by power.
But ...
... when the party's over, the lights are off and the chairs are cleared away, the "achievements" applauded so loudly from the stage soon crumble to dust.
So the question is, what should we do instead?
We've drifted along, seeing this as the only possible model for international action. We urgently need systems thinkers to address the problem, looking for a better intervention point. I know there are people with great skills in this area. Please bend them to this issue. Thanks.
Here's my view on the "best ever" climate summit: Paris in 2015. In a nutshell, best ever turns out to mean inadequate, lopsided and lethal to the living world and its people. theguardian.com/environment/ge…
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