US-sponsored climate change talks have begun with representatives from the top 16 polluting countries joining in the discussion with the aim to find a global agreement to cap carbon emissions. However unlike the G8 Summit, caps discussed here will be voluntary.

It seems the conference was set up as a PR stunt rather than any real desire to tackle climate change, and was devised by George Bush as an antidote from the most recent G8 summit where he refused to sign any mandatory legislation – he, together with China and India, prefers a more voluntary route.

It is widely speculated that nothing will be achieved from this summit (many countries have sent junior ministers and civil servants as representatives). The message from America on tackling climate change seems misty, given that a month prior to the summit, 12 companies were deleted from the FTSE4Good index due to environmental reasons (JC Penny and Capital One) among them.