Copenhagen and Durban: two conferences with two totally different sets of expectations. In the short amount of time between them, hope has collapsed under the weight of global cynicism. What a difference two years can make.

If you weren’t aware that delegations from around the world are currently gathering in Durban for a last-ditch effort to save the Kyoto Protocol– don’t take it so hard. After all, there’s almost no media attention being paid to the event, and why should there be? Most countries aren’t even bothering to send anything resembling a head of state. What’s more, yesterday’s climate heroes like India and Brazil are quietly crossing the picket line to the villains side by joining the United States call to delay negotiations on a legally binding treaty until at least 2015.

It’s hard to imagine that just two years ago, leaders from around the world were flying into Copenhagen to save the world from climate catastrophe. Back then, the mission was framed in apocalyptic terms: there had to be an agreement, there would be an agreement, failure simply wasn’t an option. However, in the end it seems that (so far) failure actually was an option, because CO2 continues to be pumped into the atmosphere unabated. What’s more, if Durban is anything to go by, it doesn’t even really bother global leaders so much anymore.