By Valerie Volcovici
DUBAI (Reuters) – Flashy country pavilions, business-sponsored cocktail parties and a host of side events have turned the annual U.N. climate summit into what some say is a trade show or circus.
In this year’s stunning host city of Dubai, billboards are advertising the benefits of wind energy, climate ambition and ExxonMobil (NYSE :)’s carbon capture projects.
And with a record 84,000 registered attendees, this year’s Conference of the Parties, or COP28, is a far cry from the first in Berlin in 1995, a subdued affair with fewer than 4,000 delegates focused on multilateral cooperation on climate change .
This is seen by some as a sign of success and by others as a dangerous distraction from the fight against climate change, as global oil demand, CO2 emissions and temperatures have risen steadily for almost three decades.
“It’s a lobbying fest where polluters can chat with politicians, all under the guise of tackling climate change,” said Pascoe Sabido, a researcher at the Corporate Europe Observatory, which monitors corporate influence on policymaking.
The United Nations and COP backers say the planet would be much worse off without them.
For Alden Meyer, a senior fellow at think tank E3G who has attended every COP, the carnival-like atmosphere is a positive sign of the growing global commitment to the climate crisis, even if it meant long lines for food and coffee.
“It’s a three-ring circus, and that’s a good thing. It means the issue has reached critical mass,” Meyer said.
Lisa Jacobson, president of the 65-member Business Council for Sustainable Energy, which represents the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries, agrees.
Jacobson remembers that in 2000 in The Hague the attendance was so low that everyone fit into one room. The fact that more than 80,000 people are present is something she only dreamed of.
“It’s everything we wanted,” she said.
PROMISES
Countries have adopted a strategy of announcing voluntary commitments and initiatives at the start of the COPs. These are intended to set a positive tone as the delegations endure two weeks of tough negotiations.
In Dubai, this process accelerated, with a succession of non-binding agreements: from pledges to triple global renewable and nuclear capacity, to accelerating the shift away from coal and helping farmers improve soil quality .
Others proved more controversial, with oil and gas companies pledging to decarbonize their operations rather than reduce production of the fossil fuels responsible for global warming.
Dozens of voluntary partnerships were launched or expanded and at least 37 new financial pledges were made in the first five days of COP28, according to the Global Strategic Communications Council, which is tracking the pledges.
Some promises of concern can distract from the real issues.
“We are always and – increasingly – cautious about the dissemination of additional statements and commitments promoted at the COP,” said Daniel Lund, Special Climate Advisor to the Island of Fiji.
“Fiji has in the past joined calls that were intended as long-standing initiatives but were quickly forgotten.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Sunday at a G77-China summit on the sidelines of COP28 that these promises look good but distract from what developed countries must do now to combat climate change.
“COP28 should be an event to accelerate implementation, not a show of ambition,” he said.
Jake Schmidt, director of international programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the commitments require accountability to prevent an epidemic of “file and forget.”
“While they are creating momentum for the ongoing conversations, it is not clear that there are many mechanisms in place to hold people accountable,” he added.
BIG OIL
Although oil companies have always been present at the COP, UN documents show that they have largely operated behind the scenes.
But in Dubai, the COP28 president’s day job is to run the UAE’s state oil company, while heavy hitters such as Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods have had a front row seat at high-level events.
Drilling companies were also briefly in the spotlight with a UAE-led pledge from 50 oil and gas companies, including Exxon, to reduce carbon emissions from their operations.
“The promises made clearly fall short of what is needed,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told business leaders.
The UAE, a member of OPEC, has argued that fighting climate change does not have to mean eliminating fossil fuels, as technologies can be deployed to keep emissions out of the atmosphere – a position that has attracted widespread criticism.
For former US Vice President Al Gore, the entire COP process needs a rethink.
“When you have a petrostate in charge of the process, then we have this ridiculous situation where the top polluters have to allow the world to make common sense decisions to save the future of humanity,” he said.
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