The arrogance of Cancun

In the efforts to protect our planet from ourselves, the high level talks at Cancœn were our last chance ... and they failed. But we can learn from this sad episode: we must stop asking governments and international organisations for solutions that they don't want to - and can't - implement. And we must stop pretending to be God, thinking we can "fix" the planet.

Eighteen years ago pressure from the environmental movement forced the UN to convene the Earth summit: 120 heads of state, 8,000 officials and innumerable environmentalists gathered in Rio; an image of the orchestra playing while the Titanic sank comes to mind.