COP 29 - A Climate Copout

Guess which major world leaders are not attending?

The latest in a long series of climate change meetings, COP 29, started this week.

COP stand for “Conference of the Parties” and is managed by the United Nations and is the only platform bringing together all countries in the world to discuss climate change. COP 1 was held in Germany, in 1995.

The host city in 2024 is Baku Azerbaijan, a country that relies on exporting fossil fuels for 90% of its export income.

Some 50,000 delegates (yes, 50,000) will be in Baku over the next two weeks to discuss climate change and the reduction of CO2 emissions. That number, almost all of who will have travelled by air from the four corner of the globe, will have made a fair contribution to CO2 emissions on their two-way journeys.

While almost every country in the world is represented in some form, be it lowly officials or presidents, prime ministers and other heads of state, there are four missing.

Let’s take a look at the four countries in the world who have the highest CO2 emissions:

China - 34%

United States - 12%

India - 7.6%

Russia - 5.3%

Now . . .take a wild guess at the four heads of state NOT attending COP 29? Could it be China, the United States, India and Russia by any chance? You win the prize!

Climate change, resulting in heatwaves and floods have been scientifically confirmed and recognised by much of the world.

However, taking the United States as an example, current president Joe Biden is not attending. Biden is at the end of his four-year term, so perhaps, why bother?

President-elect Donald Trump took the USA out of the 2015 Paris Climate Accords during his first term. Biden added the country back in.

Trump is a confirmed climate sceptic and is expected to remove the country from the Paris Climate Accords for a second time. He does not believe the science, calling it a hoax. Nor does he believe that the US should be contributing millions of dollars to poorer countries to help them fight the effect of climate change, brought about in part from the CO2 emissions of his own country. And to compound CO2 emissions, he announced this month that the US will “Drill, drill, drill”, increasing fossil fuel usage.

There are issues with climate change - 29 of them. That we have reached COP 29, which follows from COP 28 right back to COP 1, without a proper solution is damaging to the planet and the population.

The major issue is short-termism by politicians. Other than in dictatorships, heads of state are generally elected for periods of around four to five years. Their number one focus, is re-election at the end of their term and what will help that re-election and long term climate change commitments doesn’t fit the four year plan.

Climate change is a long haul over several decades, not four year terms, which is why it suffers and we find ourselves at meeting number 29, where a new set of promises will be made. Heard of state will bask in the reflected glory of new promises, travel home and for the most part, forget them.

The question to ask, is whether today’s politicians will address decade long support and action, or stay inside their four or five year bubbles. Or, in the case of China, the USA, India and Russia, not bother to send a head of state at all.

There is a saying that a “camel is a horse designed by a committee”. Equals: fail.

Perhaps that should also read, “effective climate change control is a process designed a committee”. Equals: fail- 29 times so far.

Stay warm - or wet - or cold.

Oh, and can we have your vote in four year time please, by which time we have attended, (or not attended) COP 30, COP 31 . . . .