UN says 3C this century on our current course. Little kids alive today will be in their 30's in 2050, & will already witness and/or suffer coastal cities submerging, drought, hunger, water wars, displacement, hurricanes, novel pathogens & infrastructure collapse.
Yet the #1 meeting of minds to address this, COP28, has an oil baron as its president & non-binding agreements twisted & watered down by over 2400 oil/gas industry lobbyists, all given more access than journalists.
It's not a stretch to say it's like inviting a slaver to head a Human Rights convention, human traffickers & arms dealers at the roundtable.
COP is proving to be a foolish waste of time, air miles, tax & public confidence. And that's despite all the brave voices & activists there in person, pleading at the coalface.
It is proving to be a meeting more about minimising harm to the fossil fuel industry, than the planet, all in servitude to the lethal ideology of infinite economic growth.
IMO time to tear down the COP platform & start again.
No more 'presidents' & Rolex-lobbied ill-informed politicians deciding for the Planet. Conflict of Interest needs to be screened for as a function of participation.
Est. a rotating council with diverse civilian & indigenous representation, alongside academics & thinkers in the climate, energy, economics and planetary boundary spaces.
Empower the meetings with market-enforced accountability.
Love the goal, but I'm not convinced that would solve the problem. The group would produce wonderful solutions full of science and wisdom, then be utterly ignored by the presidents and oil execs who still hold all the power.
As I see it, the problem is rooted far deeper than the COP. It's that there is not enough collective will to overpower those who benefit from the status quo. Until we solve that, nothing with how the climate summits are organized will matter much.
@FantasticalEconomics I know you are right, and as I wrote it. But an overhaul of COP is needed even if only to confess its impotence; if only to address this fundamental disempowerment and deficit of political integrity, of willpower. It is better than billions being subject to this depleting and cynical performance of procrastination.
@JulianOliver Consequences of burning carbon are absolutely an existential threat to fossil producers. Anyone who didn't expect this trillion dollar industry to bring out their A game is living in la-la land.
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