Whose idea was this, Exxon’s?

COP28 in Dubai?

The BBC reported on Monday that leaked briefing documents revealed plans by the United Arab Emirates to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations. COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber said at a news conference that the report aimed to undermine his COP28 presidency.

‘These allegations are false, not true, incorrect and not accurate,’ he said.

(BBC, November 29, 2023)

Al-Jaber’s denial, however, rings as hollow as these famous lines from the movie Casablanca:

Captain Renault: I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.

Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

After all, everyone knows oil is the UAE’s biggest revenue generator.

Climate change: All talk, no action

In fairness to the UAE, the USA leads the largest oil-producing countries in attending these climate summits just to emit more CO2 with empty pledges to reduce C02 emissions.

Then, of course, there’s the massive carbon footprint attendees create. They fly to these climate summits on private jets to blah, blah, blah about reducing CO2 emissions. The hypocrisy inherent in that is even more suffocating than the pollution they aim to reduce.

Mind you, the leading CO2 polluters also happen to be the top AI developers. They might have succumbed to the fatalism that AI is bound to doom humanity long before climate change does. So their clear but unspoken motto must be:

• Pollute away because “it’s the end of the world as we know it” (and we just want to feel fine).

So, here’s to next year’s COP29. And you can bet your life the globe will be warmer than it is now.