Seeing the results of the UN Climate Change Conference closing today in Madrid (COP25), it comes to my mind Aesop’s Fable 520 in the Perry Index: The Mountain in Labour.

A mountain was once greatly agitated. Loud groans and noises were heard, and crowds of people came from all parts to see what was the matter. While they were assembled in anxious expectation of some terrible calamity, out came a Mouse.

Moral: Don’t make much ado about nothing.

Aesop, A Mountain in Labor (Townsend version)

In my country we use to summarize it with a simple: Y la montaña parió un ratón (The mountain gave birth to a mouse). This is the mouse.

Nobody is really surprised with the (lack of) results, because nobody expected anything. That doesn’t mean it is not frustrating to see representatives of more than 190 nations coming to spend two weeks in Madrid, just to groan and flee. Protests in the streets have achieved nothing, and there is a feeling of total disconnect between what the science suggests and what the climate negotiations are delivering in terms of meaningful action.

COP25 epitomizes the spirit of our time and one of the key tenets of Mind the Post. Collective action/intelligence incapable to live up to the complexity of the challenges we are facing. No surprise, multilateralism is in retreat and simplistic “trumpism” negotiation style on the rise.

Every man (and woman) for himself (herself).