This is intended to be a COP28 thread, with a view to comments being added as and when there’s something to add about the inevitable media obsession that is starting to build around COP28. To get the ball rolling, a couple of COP28-related items have recently caught my eye.

Priorities for UK climate policy following COP28

On 31^st January 2024 the Westminster Energy & Transport Forum (WEET) will be hosting yet another seminar, this time with the above title. Given that COP28 is likely to be one of the most unsuccessful COPs to date (and, let’s face it, it’s not a high bar), the first major session, led by Chris Stark, Chief Executive Officer of the Climate Change Committee, seems more than a little optimistic: “Key takeaways from COP28 – policy priorities and legal commitments that have emerged from discussions and debates”.

There seems to be no doubt that we must continue to go full steam ahead (or should that be “full renewables ahead”?) down the net zero road, as the session after that will consider “Next steps following COP28 – monitoring UK progress in decarbonisation, priorities for further decarbonising key industries, and net zero implementation strategies moving forward”. This is to be followed by the last session before the break, on “Policy priorities for delivering a green economy and meeting net zero targets”.

Further sessions will be on “Assessing sustainable finance initiatives – private sector environmental impact, allocating and delivering funds in public and private sectors, strategies for unlocking green investment, and the role of ESG reporting”; “Practicalities for delivering a Just transition – strategic priorities for a people-centred and inclusive approach, opportunities for job creation and reskilling, economic diversification, sustainable transport, and affordable energy”; and “Next steps for meeting climate commitments – strategies for monitoring environmental impacts and assessing outcomes in the UK”. I wonder if anyone is interested in assessing outcomes in China?

Key areas for discussion (it seems they will never be deflected from the agenda) include: “Defining the UK’s role in meeting global climate targets” with, inevitably “securing the UK’s position as a global climate leader”. And, yet again, time is to be devoted to the “just transition” that never seems to happen, with focus on “protecting workers in phased-out industries through reskilling, job creation and economic diversification”; “producing sustainable transport alternatives – creating zero carbon rail journeys – unlocking more sustainable alternatives to car travel and domestic aviation”; and “continuing the transition to green, accessible and affordable energy – priorities for research and development in hydrogen, wind and solar”.

It’s all just words, as none of this ever seems to happen, though it is interesting to see confirmation of the plan to stop us using cars (unlocking more sustainable alternatives to car travel).

Migrant workers toil in perilous heat to prepare for Cop28 climate talks in UAE

Meanwhile, back in the real world, some of the reality surrounding COP28 appears to have shocked the Guardian, which today ran a story on its website with the above headline, and a sub-title “Report highlights evidence of workers from Africa and Asia labouring in 42C heat in Dubai to build conference facilities.”

The story is built around findings by FairSquare, a human rights research and advocacy group. One might have expected the United Nations to have thought a little harder before deciding to hold COP28 in the UAE (have they learned nothing from holding it in Egypt?). Instead, the Guardian tells us this:

Migrant workers make up about 90% of UAE’s private sector workforce, and carry out almost all manual labor in the country including preparations for COP28– the UN climate talks which tens of thousands of people including heads of state and diplomats from up to 195 countries are expected to attend.

The obscenity of these carbon-spewing, human rights-breaching shindigs might temporarily upset the Guardian, but it will no doubt not prevent it from cheer-leading once the gabfest is up and running. And, while technically reporting accurately on the issue, the Guardian can’t resist using the appalling heat under which the immigrant workers are toiling to create (yet again) the false impression that deaths from extreme heat (exacerbated, of course, by climate change) are the great problem:

More than 5 million people die each year globally because of excessively hot or cold conditions – and heat-related deaths are rising due to the climate emergency.

Of course, the vast majority of those deaths from excessive heat or cold are from excessive cold, and the gentle arming of the planet is reducing, rather than increasing, deaths from excessive temperatures, and is likely to do so for some time to come.

I will end with the ultimate irony surrounding COP28 (to date, at least):

“The story of migrant workers in the Gulf region is a story of climate injustice,” said Amali Tower, executive director of the non-profit Climate Refugees.

Please do add comments here as and when COP28-related stories catch your eye.