https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/15/fossil-fuels-how-a-huge-gamble-sealed-cop28-deal

The story told in this article about a “chance” meeting between US climate envoy John Kerry, a prince and a sultan is pure theatre. The wording of the final document is a con-trick that any old confidence trickster would be proud of. The “world’s governments” would now “call on countries” to

begin “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science”.

This was a “signal”, said the Head of the UN’s development programme, that “the world is moving beyond the fossil-fuel era.”

It wasn’t. It is a promise that will easily be broken by those who made it, while all the time pretending to have kept it. “We never promised a magic bullet,” they will say, “just that we would be transitioning.”  Oh, and “accelerating” something or other. They will no doubt be thankful that there aren’t any targets for them to meet, no timetable. Nothing.

The wheelers and dealers of COP28 are, in a phrase used here in the city of Hull, “having a laugh”. Whatever their  rhetoric, this is where the Saudis and the most powerful states always intended COP28 to end. The rest is theatre, pantomime.

Anne Rasmussen, of Samoa, speaking for the small island states, said that the agreement did not go far enough:

We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual when what we really needed is an exponential step-change in our actions and support.

Yes, you do need that, Anne. But you’re being too generous. There was no “incremental advancement over business as usual”, as we will see next year when all the bigwigs come together again, saying “We failed to make progress; we are on the edge; this is our last chance.” And John Kerry will smile his smile and go for another impromptu meeting.

I hope I’m not being cynical. It’s just that  I saw this headline this morning:

Cop28 president says his firm will keep investing in oil

Exclusive: Sultan Al Jaber says Adnoc has to meet demand for fossil fuels, and hails ‘unprecedented’ Cop deal