COP28: sure, it’s a sham, but let’s use that to our advantage

Let’s start with the host nation: holding COP28, or any other COP in Dubai didn’t augur well. Then the conference president, sultan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Al_Jaber" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Al Jaber</a>, the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc, claimed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">there is “no science”</a> indicating that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/04/cop28-president-says-no-science-for-fossil-fuel-phase-out-claim-was-misinterpreted" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C</a>. At which point, the rest of the participants should have walked out en masse, leaving Dubai’s reputation where it deserves to be: at the bottom of an oil well. Except this is politics. And politics often means holding your nose to get what you want, and the response by campaigners to such profoundly stupid, anti-scientific and ill-advised statements has been to ramp up demands for our governments to act now to tackle the climate emergency. <a href="https://medium.com/enrique-dans/cop28-sure-its-a-sham-but-let-s-use-that-to-our-advantage-a648cc23fff9">Learn More</a>