From Profs Roger Guesnerie and Thomas Sterner.

Sir, Prospects for climate talks in Copenhagen are not good. We think the main reason is the considerable distance between the parties when it comes to burden of payment and obligations. In a recent Harris survey for the FT a majority answered that “China ought to make the biggest cuts since they have the largest emissions”. Naturally this is bizarre since it fails to take into account that China has a larger population. The relevant measure for most people is emissions per capita and not a country's total emissions.