Are we nearing a political tipping point?

A number of events over the last few weeks give reason for cautious optimism that climate change may finally be climbing the political agenda. Whether it makes it to what must be its rightful place at the top, and whether it gets there fast enough, remains to be seen.

At a conference hosted by Bill Clinton, Richard Branson last week pledged the next 10 years of Virgin travel profits to low emissions technology (estimated at £1.6m). Knowing that John Howard would be listening, Branson also criticized the Australian government's head-in-the-sand approach to climate change. Meanwhile, the Australian Football League (not known for their progressive politics) has agreed to offset all CO2 emissions arising directly from their competition.

Rupert Murdoch's son, James, who runs BSkyB for his father, is concerned about climate change and BSkyB is now climate neutral. James also seems to have got his father on board - given that Mr Murdoch Snr owns half the world's media, this has got to be good for spreading the word.

In California, Arnie is doing his bit to make up for the current US administration's lack of response to climate change, and California is taking the top five car manufacturers to court for contributing to the "public nuisance" of climate change.

And in the UK, the Royal Society has told ExxonMobil to stop funding bad science by climate change skeptics.