A ‘Gender Action Plan’ From COP’s Jungle Jamboree

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The climate scaremongers: A ‘gender action plan’ from COP’s jungle jamboree

PAUL HOMEWOOD

♫ But where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns
Don’t bothеr, they’re herе ♫

FOUR years ago in Glasgow, Alok Sharma burst into tears when delegates at COP26 refused to agree to the phasing out of coal. Four years on, little has changed.

As I predicted before COP30 began, a last-minute agreement was struck, which ended up satisfying nobody, following threatened walkouts and tantrums.

A minority of countries, led by the UK and the EU, wanted the agreement to include a legally binding roadmap on how and when the world would transition away from fossil fuels – something that the world had committed to in principle at COP28. Such a roadmap would put meat on the bones of what had been no more than a vague promise to do something at some stage in the future.

A majority of countries opposed the UK’s plan, which had been strenuously argued by Ed Miliband. Although fingers were pointed at the Arab oil states, it was China and India, supported by many Asian and African nations, whose economies depend on fossil fuels and who need them to improve the lot of their people, that kiboshed the idea.

The UK and EU, along with a small handful of Latin American countries and Pacific Islands, even sent a letter to the COP President, threatening to block any agreement that did not include a firm commitment to phase out fossil fuels. But it was all to no avail, as the COP presidency simply ignored their demands and offered them a ‘take it or leave it’ choice instead. In humiliating fashion, the UK and EU had to back down.

The final deal made no mention of a roadmap or even included stronger language about phasing out fossil fuels. The only mention was a passing ‘acknowledgement’ of the transition already agreed at COP28. Miliband had to suck it up, pathetically claiming that the meeting was a ‘step forward’. He did not mention the two steps back!

One of the takeaways of Belem has been the eclipse of Europe as a force in world politics. No longer does the rest of the world pay attention to anything pipsqueaks like Miliband and Wopke Hoekstra, the EU Climate Commissioner, have to say. After all, why should any developing nation be denied cheap, abundant fossil fuel energy on the say-so of those two? In truth, this was the COP when pious platitudes met cold harsh reality. And cold harsh reality won.

While rich Western countries are still determined to pursue Net Zero regardless of the cost and damage entailed, the rest of the world long ago worked out that fossil fuels are an essential, not a luxury.

The other main topic of discussion was money. Once again, poorer countries went away empty-handed, despite a meaningless agreement to triple climate adaptation funds from the existing level of around £35billion a year. I say meaningless, because this will still have to be funded out of the same £259billion fund promised for 2035 at last year’s COP29.

Miliband and the EU were doubly disappointed that their attempts to get China and the Arabs, still unbelievably classed as ‘developing’ nations, to pay their fair share fell on deaf ears. Maybe Miliband might get Rachel from Accounts to explain where she will get the money to pay for all this aid.

There was even little in the agreement about stopping deforestation, despite this being close to Brazilian President Lula’s heart.

But never mind! As the BBC’s Georgina Rannard was thrilled to announce, COP30 did pass a new ‘Gender Action Plan’. So that’s all right then!

What was the point of it all? Some 50,000 flew into Belem to attend the conference, including more than 200 from Britain. Thousands more came to protest outside the centre. The BBC even sent 16 staff, who wandered around with their usual sense of self-importance. Huge swathes of rainforest were destroyed to build new roads.

And all for what?

Since the heady days of Paris ten years ago, emissions have continued to climb. Despite successive COP talking shops, the world is no nearer to cutting emissions in the foreseeable future, never mind phasing them out completely.

COP30 clings to the mantra of limiting warming to 1.5C from Little Ice Age levels, maintaining the fallacy that it is still ‘within reach’. That always was an impossible mirage; indeed, we have already got close to 1.5C without any detrimental effects whatsoever.

As the BBC put it, ‘one observer said they’d never seen so many people so underwhelmed by so little progress at a COP’.