“Greed” is the term used for “economic self-interest” when discussing corporations. And economic self-interest is what Figueres says is the basis of every country’s pledge for Paris.
Leaders gathered in Paris to forge a deal on climate change are acting out of economic self-interest, not a desire to “save the planet,” U.N. Climate Chief Christiana Figueres told CNN on Tuesday. “Let us be very clear,” she said. “They’re doing it for what I think is a much more powerful political driving force, which is for the benefit of their own economy.”
Yes, economic self-interest is a “powerful political driving force.” It has started most wars, and is what’s behind most of the evil politics in the world. Most importantly, this is not new, and we do not need the Figueres and the UN to teach countries act in their self interest!
This was not a slip. Figueres said this emphatically before and explained it to CBS. If you believe her (and she should know), then you have only two logical choices:
- Believe that national greed will solve global warming, and we don’t need UN negotiations.
- Realize we are toast.
Figueres seems to believe a contradiction — Greed is enough, but more UN negotiations are needed to teach countries how to be greedy. This is silly. If countries are not being greedy enough, perhaps they need educating, but you do that with informational literature and not with acrimonious negotiations.