Thus the Financial Times today. “US, Brazil, China, and South Korea promise to curb carbon output,” explains the newspaper. Yesterday, China formally presented its plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Also yesterday, America announced plans to work closely with Brazil on climate issues, including tripling the amount of renewable energy—such as solar power and wind—by 2030. South Korea has made similar pledges. All this sounds pretty impressive. The hopes for a climate deal in Paris later this year are pretty high, and the fear of collapse of negotiations, like that in Copenhagen several years ago, is gradually subsiding. All things considered, 2015 may well be the year when the promise to curb carbon output will be crowned with an international accord binding all nations. Fingers crossed. The only remaining question is what effect, if any, will the accord have on climate change. Newspaper articles skirt this issue ever more predictably in the preparations for the Paris climate talks. Slowly but surely, this is becoming a side issue.