Henny Penny lays an egg in Paris

This is especially the case in regard to the application of resources needed to meet the objective and in the respective financial assistance to be given by the well-developed countries to the “developing countries”.

Many stimulating words are also used in the Articles to shore up the sense of commitment and resolve hopefully to maintain the enthusiasm and belief that we are all in this together and that the cause is both noble and achievable. Words like “encourage”, “urge”, “resolve”, “strengthen”, “ambitious”, “engaging”, etc, flow freely throughout the text.

Many clauses are so obscure that their purpose is lost (assuming there was one). Other oblique clauses are designed to mention sensitive political but peripheral issues such as the taking of “a country-driven, gender-responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach” with consideration of“vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems… based on and guided by…traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples…with a view to integrating adaptation into relevant socioeconomic and environmental policies and action, where appropriate” (Art.7).

But whether any of this will diffuse the persistent lack of consensus within the sciences (although a majority view has prevailed) and which continues to foster a healthy scepticism amongst the public as well as a modicum of ratbaggery, remains to be seen. For what we are dealing with here is an issue that started with nature being to blame, which then moved on to mankind being a contributor, and ultimately now to mankind being almost the sole offender.

Indeed, there are not many solid and entirely indisputable facts to be relied upon in this continuing debate, notwithstanding some advocates who tend to speak with absolute certainty. From what can be taken as truth it can be said, that Yes, climate changeis real. The climate has been changing ever since the Big Bang. Sometimes dramatically and perversely from hot to cold and back again. With or without humans it will continue to do so.

And Yes, mankind is contributing significantly to the greenhouse effect (which has been known about since 1896) with an estimated 108bn people having lived on Planet Earth so far and over 7bn of us (about seven time more since the Industrial Revolution) being presently alive, and increasing at an accelerated rate.

Perhaps the most important concern is the fact that greenhouse gas, once created, can take more than a hundred years to dissipate.

So, the hope of mankind it seems is for either the (majority of) climate scientists to be wrong in their predictions, or if not wrong, that the good intentions and determined efforts of us all, worldwide, to mitigate the effect of greenhouse gas, will succeed.

It is all a matter of being better safe than sorry. Had the ingenuity of humans been such that we had found out how to harness and use the energy of the sun before we discovered fossil fuel, then…well, we have not been that smart. We can only hope we get it right this time.