An oil baron leading climate change talks sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But at the UN COP28 summit in Dubai later this year, that’s exactly what is set to happen.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, boss of petro-giant the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, has been picked as president of the crucial climate conference.
Whatever the merits of Al Jaber as a diplomat, this is a confounding, scarcely believable decision that will confirm the worst fears of many activists: that the COP process – which is supposed to help drive down emissions and steer the planet away from catastrophic climate breakdown – has been compromised.
With fossil fuel firms and their army of lobbyists in attendance, these annual events are little more than photo-ops for grandstanding world leaders. We’re completely out of time to be tinkering around the edges of the climate crisis as we approach the precipice of disastrous global warming.
It’s not that fossil fuel companies don’t have a role to play in tackling climate change – of course they do. But frankly, their key role should be ramping up investment in low-carbon energy while reducing production of hydrocarbons.
That’s it. Everything else is a sideshow. Campaigners, however, say that’s precisely what’s not happening – or certainly not fast enough. And they fear the involvement of the oil industry in global climate negotiations is like letting foxes into a henhouse.
Now, with an oil man leading this year’s talks, many others may start to agree.
Tout of order
The Daily Record has warned over and over again that buying tickets from Viagogo can be a recipe for disaster. We have told how millions of pounds in trade have flowed from real fans to touts via the dodgy platform.
Despite years of scrutiny and probes by the Consumer and Markets Authority, Viagogo has done little to shed its dodgy seller clientele. The latest fiasco has meant scores of Ricky Gervais fans were left outside while the comic performed a gig that could have sold out many times over.
And the same scenario could play out in other gigs, including the Scottish shows later this month. Viagogo claims to be shocked that fans were turned away after buying briefs on the site.
But the reality is that the firm is legally compelled to print on its own site that many tickets are not valid for entry to gigs – as they breach artists’ T&Cs. The only way any fan can be sure of having the great time they paid for is to ditch the tout sites.
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