This time, the fox is guarding the hens at COP28

French MEP Manon Aubrey described the decision to host COP28 in the UAE as "like having a tobacco multinational overseeing the internal work of the World Health Organisation".

It's an apt analogy, and considering the dirty tricks being played by COP's illustrious hosts, the fossil fuels lobby is giving the tobacco industry a run for its money in the misdirection and deception game.

COP28 host president Sultan Al Jaber has had his teams rewrite his wikipedia entries lately, in order to present a better image of the CEO of one of the world's biggest fossil fuel companies.

Then, only a few weeks ago it was revealed that there is an army of fake climate expert accounts on social media. Their goal, of course, is a massive campaign of greenwashing by giving the appearance of a popular grassroots movement of support for the hosts and their efforts - apparently known as 'astroturfing'.

Comments from beautiful 'climate scientists' include such gems as; "skeptics should stop griping: Al Jaber (COP28 president) is precisely the kind of ally the climate movement needs”.

Duplicate photos and accounts have been exposed on twitter by Professor Mark Owen Jones, author of "Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East and Politcal Repression in Bahrain".

Sadly for whichever group was responsible for this campaign, their efforts have been amateurish at best. They are so incompetent as to leave huge clues that many of their account holders are actually AI generated images. Others profile pictures can be found in royalty-free photo sites, all available for easy download.

Oops.

Sadly, it is almost impossible to discover who created most of these accounts, but the playbook is an old one, and it's not a stretch to assume that many, if not most, were uploaded by state actors, fossil fuel companies, and other interested parties. Just another reminder to not believe anything you see online without some sort of confirmation.

Now, the Guardian is reporting that it has received a leaked document detailing key talking points, approved for use, should any pesky journalists get uppity and start asking difficult questions.

Those nosy journalists - always looking for the truth.

Areas covered by the document include fossil fuel emissions, of course, but also extend to issues of human rights, people-trafficking, political prisoners, and the war in Yemen. But it is the climate emergency that is top of the agenda.

Pascoe Sabido, a coordinator of the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, summed it up well when he said; “These pages of tediously crafted talking points rip the green facade off of this fossil fuel presidency. Anyone who reads this should have alarm bells ringing".

Former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres recently stated that the UAE's hosting of COP28, and their approach to the climate crisis was “very dangerous”. She went on to call it a “direct threat to the survival of vulnerable nations”.

With so many red flags and exposed deceptions, you have to ask yourself one very simple question: How on earth is this event even going ahead?

Nothing will be above board. Nothing will be an honest attempt to solve the crisis we find ourselves in. And nothing at all will be achieved.

So, what is the point?

You can be sure of one thing, and that is that there will be absolutely no protestors present. Anyone that even considers staging any kind of intervention will find themselves quickly locked in a dark room. No current world leaders in any position of power appear to have raised concerns. It falls to ex-heads, and MEPs, and members of action groups to bring up the feelings of the vast majority of people..

With the astonishing expansion of multi-million dollar sports deals in the oil-rich nations of the Middle East - from football to golf to formula one - this leverage of influence is only going to grow stronger. This is an uncomfortable truth.

And the most uncomfortable truth of all is that we in the West would not even be doing business with such repressive regimes if it weren't for the black-gold.

So. Is COP28 a waste of time. And if it is, why are we even bothering?

Pictures

Industrial pollution - Image by Ralf Vetterle from Pixabay

Twitter post by Mark Owen Jones

Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay