In the early hours of this morning the news of the failure of the Copenhagen summit on climate change hit the news wires. I won’t repeat the individual disappointments as the papers will be full of it today. But I would like to comment on the political implications of this disaster. It shows that there is no effective global politics, only global problems.

Without any doubt climate change and its implications is the most important global problem as it threatens the future of the whole planet. For 17 years, since Rio 1992, this issue has been debated and only a small – albeit vocal – minority questions the science and the threat climate change poses. Kyoto was a letdown as the US never ratified the agreement. And now it became clear that Copenhagen is even worse.

What does this tell us about the state of global politics? It tells us that there is no global political system that is capable of action. Even a well-debated existential problem that has been known for decades cannot be addressed effectively. International actors are locked in interest politics that simply disregards the most profound of all interests: our own future!

The Copenhagen failure as well as the so far disappointing political response to the financial crisis – get your act together and implement a global transaction tax! – shows that political structures are still not fit to deal with the type of political issues we are facing.

Politics needs to catch up very soon! We are running out of time.