Thursday 30 November 2023

Climate Change Conference or Carbon Sales Pitch?

Cop28 will be held in Dubai (UAE) chaired by the state oil firm's CEO. Ban Ki-moon and Graca Michel (Deputy Chairs of 'The Elders', a human rights organisation) have appealed for 'world leaders' to use this event to 'get back on track' on limiting anthropogenic (human mediated) climate change. If they fail to do so, they argue, the consequences for humankind will be horrendous (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/30/cop-28-dubai-developing-world-climate-crisis). Marina Hyde notes, however, that it was distinctly odd to put a state, made rich on petrochemical sales, in charge of humankind's (probable?) last chance to reverse the rise in 'greenhouse gas' emissions (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/28/cop28-save-planet-oil-uae-telegraph). That decision looks even odder, with the revelation that Cop28's chair is intending to use the gathering to 'privately' discuss new sales of fossil fuels. Fiddling, whilst the planet burns?

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