Is the Glass Half Full or Is It Half Empty?

Cop26 has started in Glasgow. People seem to be split on whether they expect it to generate solutions or simply be the latest talking shop. The dichotomy is illustrated by the distinctly different accounts by the current and earlier Environmental writers for the same newspaper. Fiona Harvey (a current Environmental correspondent) seems upbeat, suggesting that Cop26 may solve the climate crisis, so long as governments and businesses are held to account (https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2021/nov/01/optimism-for-cop26-we-must-win-the-climate-battle-and-we-absolutely-can). Harvey somewhat spoils her account by professing her belief that the problem of acid rain, once thought insurmountable, was eventually 'solved'. That's a bit of a leap. Acid rain is generated when carbon dioxide interacts with water to produce carbonic acid. Neither carbon dioxide nor water appear to be in short supply in many regions of the globe right now. Acidification of the oceans is also still viewed as an urgent environmental challenge. Still, let's hope that Harvey is correct in her belief that politicians and companies will feel compelled (by arguments and economics) to eventually do the right thing. Her view seems somewhat counterbalanced by former Environmental Editor, John Vidal (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/01/jet-lag-climate-villains-coffee-seven-stages-cop-un). He gives a somewhat jaundiced account of the 'dance' (my word) of 'the seven stages of a Cop meeting'. His account (based on his previous experiences) hardly gives the impression that Cop meetings are entirely rational exercises. Vidal concludes that, by the end of Cop26, 'The world will pray'. Prayer may be our only real option. I guess that we should wait until after the Glasgow meeting before judging its likely outcome. As Robert Louis Stevenson (a Scot) said "It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive and the true success is to labour".