EBN- The world’s most important climate meeting kicked off on Thursday in Dubai by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – one of the world’s top ten oil producers.
COP28 will be the biggest gathering of world leaders this year.
However, campaigner Greta Thunberg has said these UN climate summits are just “blah, blah, blah” – meaning all talk and no action.
She quoted statements by Boris Johnson: “This is not some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging”, and Narendra Modi: “Fighting climate change calls for innovation, cooperation and willpower” but said the science did not lie.
Carbon emissions are on track to rise by 16% by 2030, according to the UN, rather than fall by half, which is the cut needed to keep global heating under the internationally agreed limit of 1.5C.
“Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” she said.
“This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.”
Human rights campaigners earlier called for removing Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber from his role as president of the UN climate summit.
Al-Jaber is the chief executive of ADNOC, one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers.
According to Amnesty International, Al-Jaber plans to increase the group’s production of fossil fuels. He is entirely incompatible with his role as president-designate of COP28.
