What do you do if you are a political leader and you think global warming is completely ridiculous and preposterous but most people think it’s a valid problem that needs immediate attention? Here’s one answer:

By late 2006 his government hit a ‘perfect storm’ with on-going drought, severe water restrictions, bushfires and the release of the Stern Review and Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth.

‘To put it bluntly, “doing something” about global warming gathered strong political momentum in Australia,’ Mr Howard said in his written lecture. . . .

But six years on, Australia’s second-longest serving prime minister insists the high tide of public support for “over-zealous action” on global warming has passed.

‘I am very sceptical about the possibility of a global agreement ever being reached when you look at what happened in Copenhagen,’ he said, adding there was no real prospect of a deal between the major emitters Europe, the US and north Asia.

Mr Howard believes anti-global warming policies should never stand in the way of economic growth in developing countries.

And in developed countries, what about them?