COP Out

I suppose it was the Almighty’s sense of humor to cover Western Europe with snow while those who flew into Dubai on private jets warned of planetary disasters due to fossil fuels. The United Nations climate conference is and always will be a contradiction, especially when held in a place whose wealth is uniquely derived from fossil fuel. COP28 is a joke, a lot of fat cats reading acronym-ridden speeches and with as much intention of cutting down oil production as cutting down private jet use or expensive hookers flown in for the occasion.

What I’d like to know is whom are these fat cats trying to fool? The summit is nowhere near consensus, that’s for sure. Exporting countries and major oil producers are on one side; countries without oil are on the other. Both sides are saying how important it is to cut down, and that is where King Charles comes to mind. He opened the conference by reminding everyone that we’re going to boil in hell unless we cut down. I was reminded of the time he flew to central Europe as heir to the throne and with him went a Rolls or a Bentley that did nine miles to the gallon because Charles likes his comforts. Hypocrisy reigns supreme with the Brit King and in Dubai as well.

A petrostate hosting a climate conference is a joke to begin with. Making it even more of a joke is the fact that the UAE planned to use the conference in order to pitch oil and gas deals to foreign governments. These towelheads know how to play the West: Dangle some moola and they all bow low. The climate summit is mostly for show. And we the taxpayers are picking up the bill. And it’s always the same: Politicians and celebrities arrive in private jets. Pictures are taken and pronouncements are made. Imminent doom is predicted. New agreements are signed, deals are made, and then everything returns to normal. It’s a circus that has been going on since the ’90s and has Davos-like results: zero. Twenty-seven previous conferences have resulted in global emissions increasing every year except the ones when Covid shut down the place.

The main problem is hypocrisy. No one will admit that the rich like to stay rich, whereas the poor need cheap energy, which means fossil fuel. The rich are the petrostates, Russia and the U.S. The poor are the rest of the world. So why go through all the summit meetings and pantomime? To make you, dear Takimag reader, feel that something is being done. It is as simple as that. Here are a few facts, however unpleasant as it might be to list them.

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