Better no COP instead of COPec – we need new climate negotiations

Before you close this article with a roll of your eyes: Yes, criticism of the Climate Change Conference (COP) is not new. And yet you should still let the perversion of this well-intentioned event melt in your mouth.

The fact that the COP is taking place for the fourth time in a petrostate is a gift. But did you know that in Baku there are (almost 1,800) delegates from the ten countries most affected by climate change? In other words: There are more fossil lobbyists walking around the climate summit than people whose existence is threatened by oil, gas and coal.

In addition, most of the delegates at the negotiations come from Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Nigeria, China and Russia, among others. Recently the . Sounds more like OPEC (association of oil exporting countries) than COP.

In any case, this is no longer a climate summit, but the height of scornful ridiculousness. Perhaps COPec would be a better name for this event.

That’s why the Albanian Prime Minister’s collar burst on Wednesday. He overturned his planned speech and questioned the COP. “What on earth are we doing at this meeting, over and over and over again, when there is no common political will on the horizon to put words into action?”Edi Rama hurled at the plenum. He knows heads of state and government who sit on comfortable sofas while the speeches in the background are muted. “For me, this is exactly what happens in the world every day. Life goes on with old habits, and our big speeches about fighting climate change don’t change anything.”

It’s good that someone is finally saying this officially – even if the heads of government lounging on the sofa in front of the silent television probably didn’t hear the angry speech. Nevertheless, Rama’s outburst is a signal because it shows that the mood is changing.

Many important heads of state didn’t even fly to Baku. They have certainly done the climate a greater favor with the air miles they have saved than with lengthy negotiations from which no one expects miracles.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev was also startled by his unusual honesty. He described fossil fuels at the climate summit as “God’s gift”. It is hardly surprising that people in Baku think this way. The fact that he makes this so clear at the COP is, however, true. Even Qatar, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates had more control over themselves.

It is easy to criticize the Gulf states for their greedy oil rush. But in the end they also do the dirty work for us Europeans. Instead of Russia, we now get our gas and oil for heating from Azerbaijan. And yes, there is also black, climate-damaging gold in your smartphone, your cargo bike, your clothes or your shower gel. Without it, products made of plastic and plastic would be unthinkable. The petroleum sticks to us much more than we think between wind turbines and solar panels.

The climate conference should provide solutions so that we can get out of this. When lobbyists instead of Transformers are running around in Baku, it’s clear that nothing is moving forward. Nobody wants a COP like that, nobody needs something like that, and certainly nobody deserves something like that – neither the oil states and corporations (they really earn enough) nor people who suffer from climate change.

It is high time to consider how further negotiations on international climate policy should take place. COP29 provided the impetus that COP30 would be the optimal place to redesign or bury the forum. Abolition would be bitter for those affected by the climate and everyone who has strived for a better world in recent decades. But no COP may be better than a COPec.