COPs From Trivial to Essential

COPs From Trivial to Essential

International and Arab News

As soon as the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) concluded, preparations for future climate summits were underway, as if the matter was a mere accumulation of conferences. Officials and negotiators, along with fans of conference tourism, began their travel plans to participate in the 28th summit in the UAE, the 29th in some Eastern European country, and the 30th in Latin America or one of the Caribbean islands, which already began presenting their credentials. Ironically, countries that disagree on fair division of climate responsibilities, insist on fair geographical distribution of events among continents. The incoming Brazilian President Lula da Silva's proposal to host the 30th conference in the Amazon was self-contradictory, as if that sensitive region and its dilapidated forests lacks more devastation, with tens of thousands of climate delegates and holiday makers descending on it.

Negotiations are indispensable on issues of common interest, especially on climate, which involves complex aspects in which environmental considerations overlap with economic and social ones. However, negotiations on urgent issues should not continue endlessly, just as meetings should not turn into rhetoric forums, in which most of the participants have no role