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IF THE UN's COP28 climate summit was something of a victory for multilateralism, it was an even bigger victory for the fossil-fuel industry.
On Wednesday, the curtains finally came down on the event. It was a day later than planned.
This was largely because a draft resolution published on Monday had triggered widespread anger and frustration because it made absolutely no reference to the need to phase out hydrocarbons.
Going into the proceedings, António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, had warned such a phaseout is essential if the world is to have any hope of avoiding catastrophe.
Cedric Schuster, the head of the alliance representing small island states from around the world, urged major emitters to lead the way on ending fossil fuel use.
When the draft agreement was produced without mention of a phaseout, even John Kerry, the representative of the world’s biggest oil producer, the US, lamented it did not go far enough.
“This is a war for survival,” he said.
The agreement eventually signed by almost 200 countries on Wednesday calls for a “transitioning away from fossil fuels.” It has been hailed as a historic milestone.
The agreement is indeed historic, but not in a good way.
It constitutes a stunning dereliction of duty on the part of the world at this most perilous moment.
TT, which can expect yet another year of extreme weather, according to the latest outlook released this week by the Meteorological Service, will not escape the consequences.
The trillions of dollars needed to help countries like ours move away from hydrocarbons and survive the assault of coming years remain outstanding under the terms of the COP28 deal.
But this was an outcome ordained long before now.
The very setting of the summit told a tale. It was held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the world’s top oil and gas producers.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, a trusted confidant of UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was handpicked to preside over the event.
Though Dr Al Jaber leads a state-backed renewable energy company, he is also the head of the state oil company, Adnoc, which hopes to boost production in coming years.
If there was any doubt over the perceived conflict of interest of the president, he laid such doubt to rest when he falsely declared, a few days ago, that there was “no science” suggesting a phaseout is required.
Wednesday’s “UAE consensus” agreement, with its many loopholes and gaps and its qualified reference to a transition “in keeping with the science,” is simply the outcome of a cynical process engineered to deliver a certain outcome for oil and gas leviathans.
It was ever thus.
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