It has been one week since COP28 convened. Expectations for any COP, never mind one held in the United Arab Emirates – one of the world’s top 10 oil-producing nations – and chaired by the chief executive of the UAE’s biggest state-owned oil company – should always be low. After all, this is the 28th year COP has convened and not a single one has helped humanity shift course as it speeds towards a cliff. 2023 is set to be the hottest year on record. Global temperatures also briefly went over 2C for the very first time on record on November 17th. Nevertheless, there’s still no discernible urgency and instead these world leaders think, speak and act on the basis that climate change is a ‘yet-to-happen’ problem, something for the future, a risk rather than a pressing threat unfolding before our very eyes.
American President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to turn up, instead opting to send representatives. COP’s purported purpose is that it gathers the leaders of the world around a table to engage in dialogue on collaboratively addressing the climate crisis, and for them to agree on tangible actions. A dialogue which this year is missing the leaders of the world’s two largest economies and two largest greenhouse gas emitters. But at least British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak decided to make an appearance, even if he arrived by private jet on the Friday morning and left by the same means come Friday evening!
Sunak might have had a chance to speak with COP28’s chairman, Sultan al-Jaber, about their plans for expanding fossil fuel production in their respective countries. In July this year Sunak announced 100 new oil and gas licences were to be granted for North Sea extraction. Al-Jaber’s oil company, ADNOC, is planning to expand its production capacity by 7%. The International Energy Agency made clear in 2021 that there must be no new fossil fuel developments should we wish the world to stay within 1.5C. To add some context, COP has previously committed to the 2C target, but during COP26 it was agreed to focus on the 1.5C goal outlined by the Paris Climate Agreement. The fact is, COP serves as a greenwashing opportunity for world leaders who continually expand fossil fuel production whilst brandishing their green credentials.
The sad thing is, COP has a lot of potential. It is a yearly opportunity to gather heads of states and foster collective thinking and action on the most pressing issues facing our species. A global problem requires a global response. But the response must happen now. Studies show that emissions must decrease by 50% within the next seven years if we hope to stick to the 1.5C limit. Judged against this, COP is failing miserably, and worse still, it provides world leaders the pretense of action. Once a year isn’t enough. World leaders, like Rishi Sunak, renege on their commitments, with little accountability. Adding insult to injury, having an oil tycoon from a petrostate chair the event really just demonstrates how its seriousness and commitment are unaligned with the challenge.
Perhaps the real problem is the composition of COP itself. And no, it’s not just the fossil fuel lobbyists. It’s the bourgeois and capitalist figureheads, the people who actively profit from the destruction of the biosphere whilst occasionally engaging in gestural politics and faux climate concern. The fight to save our species from ecocide is, apparently, to be led by the very people driving said ecocide! The future of our species is too precious to leave it in the hands of such sociopaths. It’s time for serious environmentalists and ecologists to give up on COP.
