GLASGOW : GUESS WHO WAS COMING FOR DINNER ?

The climate conference in Glasgow was more a sleeper than a bang. The result was the one all wanted to avoid: "climate fatigue". Everything happened as to erase any form of drama, breakthrough or renewed enthusiasm. The paricipants looked and sounded as if they felt that the ground floor of the house they live in was already under water. The air of fatalism inside was marked by the luke despair in the streets outside. Glasgow was the perfect setting for the overall gloomy atmosphere. Only Alok Sharma, the president of the conference, looked (sadly) alive in this disappoiting non-event.

Nevertheless one should beware of disregarding the frustrating pace of the climate talks altogether. Countries can no longer skip the issue and the smallest step foward is one win over the menacing tides, which can still be slowed down if not reversed. It would be too cynical to talk about the legacy for the next generation, while their fate is already pre-ordained.

Still there was one surprise. China and the United States, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, arrived at some form of agreement to reduce the fossile fuels which dominate their respective energy mixes. This menage-a-deux took the uninvited by surprise and is another proof of America's comeback after the harsh winter of Trump's mishmash. 

A new meeting will be convened in Cairo.  Let's hope that the scorpions which appeared in Egypt's capital this week, following an outburst of yet another freaky weather pattern, will stay in their quarters. Greta and friends might find the freedom of expression there more hard to come by than in the dreary streets of Glasgow. No doubt  President Al Sisi will find a way to truncate their noise.