, Columnist
Climate Talks Always Fail, But They Are Failing Better
All the treaties and coalitions are merely tools to meet the end of emissions reduction.
Climate diplomacy.
Photographer: Annie Sakkab/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Another 12 months have passed. Another 36.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide have been spewed into the atmosphere. After three decades of climate meetings, emissions are still increasing, when they should be falling. At the COP28 summit in Dubai, there’s more interminable arguments over the wishy-washy verbiage in a treaty that most of the world seems determined to flout.
Welcome to the world of climate diplomacy. Every two steps forward is accompanied by one or two steps back. There will be many more tame promises and milquetoast deals before this process is done.