This may be the hottest year in 1,000 centuries. The 1.5C limit set by scientists to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change could be surpassedGone beyond something else. as early as next year. Change needs to come now.

So you may be tempted to let out a sigh of relief that today marks the first day of the COP28 UNUnited Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security. summit, which brings together delegatesPeople who represent groups or countries at conferences. from across the world to commit to slowing the climate crisis. Surely, some good news must be on the horizon.

You would do well not to get your hopes up, say some experts. The summit has been subject to condemnation following the announcement that it will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the world's leading CO2Carbon dioxide. emitters.

It is not only the chosen host country sparking controversy. The UAE also appointed a divisiveCausing people to be split into groups that disagree with or oppose each other. figure to the essential role of COP28 president: oil executive Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

"It's like putting the tobacco industry in charge of ending tobacco," said one European parliament member.¹

Al Jaber is overseeing an expansion in ADNOC's oil and gas production at present, aiming to raise the company's capacity from four million barrels per day in 2022 to five million by 2027.

And though Al Jaber denies the claims, leaked briefing documents revealed that the UAE had planned to use the summit to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 attending nations.²

For some, a boycottTo withdraw relations from an organisation as a punishment or protest. The word comes from the surname of a Victorian Irish landlord who was subject to a boycott from poor farmers who demanded rent reduction. is the only reasonable response. If we do not start taking climate change seriously, they say, we might as well throw in the towel.

Others say that the summit could make great strides. Around 100 countries have voiced their support for an agreement to triple renewable energy capacity at the meeting, and to double the rate of energy efficiency gains by 2030.³

Yes: World authorities need to be made to take climate change seriously. This summit and the various conflicts of interests it has brought to the fore are an unforgivable absurdity that will go down in history.

No: The summit is the most important climate event of the year. Now, more than ever, it needs dissenting voices among the delegates who can stop malign forces from taking control over our actions on the climate.

Or... Instead of focusing on the delegates, we need to mobilise a protest movement to make it clear that we want unbiased voices on the climate who are looking out for the health of the environment, not lining their own pockets.