Getting down to action on climate change

Exceptionally high temperatures from New York to Paris, Berlin, and Moscow to Beijing and Shanghai is making climate change a hot topic these days at forums, workshops and conferences.

At the Second International Youth Summit on Energy and Climate Change in Shanghai last week, I was asked whether there are too many events focusing on climate change.

The same question was asked during the United Nations Climate Talks last December. Would the climate really benefit, some people asked, from bringing 50,000 delegates, journalists, activists and observers to Copenhagen, releasing an estimated 46,200 tons of CO2 in the process.