The next climate treaty is likely to include much tougher emission reduction goals for the developed countries and given the tormenting economic conditions their governments could be looking to outsource a significant percentage their emission reduction responsibilities to developing countries.

Although all the developed countries involved in negotiations for the next climate treaty agree that tougher emission reduction goals are necessary to combat global warming, they also acknowledge the fact that they are at loss of adequate resources to achieve those goals. While many plan to introduce carbon trading schemes the economic crisis means that the effectiveness of such schemes cannot be guaranteed. And thus, these countries seem to be looking for some tweaks in order to achieve those goals while avoiding any further damage to their economic growth.

The emission reduction schemes of both European Union and the United States allow a major portion of the emissions goals to be achieved by outsourcing them to developing countries. Experts fear that the real reduction in domestic emissions could be very less.

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According to CNN Health:

Since then, the Cleveland Clinic has seen a 50 percent increase in vasectomies, an outpatient surgery that is the cheapest form of permanent birth control. Vasectomies are less invasive and cheaper than tubal ligation, which involves blocking, tieing or cutting a woman’s fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancy.

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Obama said we would create the green jobs “by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes.”

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See also: Obama Wants our Ideas for the Zero Carbon Economy

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At first glance, the latest numbers from the Cleantech Group look like terrific news. After all, they conclude that 2008 was a record year for cleantech investments, with venture deals in North America, Europe, Israel, China and India reaching a total of $8.4 billion, up 38 percent from $6.1 billion in 2007.

But most of that money was dealt out in the first three quarters, with investment slowing significantly – as expected – in the fourth quarter.

According to preliminary numbers, venture capitalists in these regions committed $1.7 billion in 99 deals in the fourth quarter, down 35 percent from the third quarter and 4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. In North America, by far the biggest venture-capital region, fourth-quarter investments totaled $1.14 billion, a decrease of 38 percent from $1.83 billion in the third quarter and of 5.8 percent from $1.21 billion in the last quarter of 2007.

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It’s been quite a year for the cleantech industry, with roller-coaster oil and stock prices, multiyear federal tax credits finally passed after more than a year of narrowly failed attempts, the beginning of a recession and the election of a new president.

“It feels like it’s been three years in one just with all the emotions,” said Michael Butler, CEO of investment bank Cascadia Capital. “A lot of people thought they were having a really good year, then they were hit with the negative economic environment. … So many people are saying ‘let’s just shut down until the end of the year.’”

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