AUSTRALIA'S INFLUENCE GROWS


Tim Flannery on Australia punching above its weight:

"We've been dithering about for a decade or so as far as Kyoto goes and what's happened over that time is that other nations, very important ones such as China, have taken our decision not to accept a particular target as the perfect excuse for them to do the same," he said.

Et voilà:

China has delayed indefinitely its national “action plan” on climate change, which was due to be released on Monday after exhaustive consultations among ministries in Beijing and provincial and local governments.

No explanation was given for the move, although global warming is causing increasing international concern about the country’s high-speed economic growth model. China has delayed the long-awaited release of its policy response to climate change, an issue that is increasingly focusing international attention on the country’s high-speed economic growth model.

We're leading China around by the nose. Cool.