DISCUSS: COP26 gets underway…
The big day is here – today the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, better known as COP26, begins in Glasgow. It follows on the G20 meeting in Rome.
So all the private/diplomatic/military flights taking armies of delegates to Rome took off again and landed in Glasgow.
To ensure enough living space for the swollen population of beurocrats, personal assistants and lapdog journalists the organizers have arranged to have cruise ships moored on the river Clyde, with their engines running 24/7.
Boris Johnson has said that time is running out for action on climate change, that we are at “one minute to midnight”, but throw in the private jets and cruise ships and we’ve probably wasted about fifteen seconds of that minute already.
Oh, there’s no vaccine passports required either.
In the age of Zoom, it boggles the mind, simply from an optics standpoint, why these big international conferences need to happen at all.
So, what can we expect from the big meet up?
Well, at a general level, it’s easy to predict: Fearmongering. A lot of it. Like a lot a lot.
Expect to be inundated with high res picutres of forest fires or polar bears looking sad. Expect headlines with phrases like “already too late” and “our last chance” and a parade of variations on that theme.
You know, stuff like this…
We are digging our own graves […] Either we stop it, or it stops us,”
…which was said by UN Secretary General António Guterres earlier today.
More specifically, we have to be on the look out for the pivot from pandemic to environment, OffG has written before about how the plan is make climate the new covid, and if they intend to launch that narrative on the world stage it will be during COP26.
Keep an eye out for articles and opinion pieces promoting the idea of climate lockdowns. Headlines such as “we locked down for a covid, and climate change is far more dangerous”, or “if we can protect the nhs, we can protect the environment”, or “we made sacrifices to save ourselves, we must do the same save the world for our grandchildren”.
Climate crisis needs same urgency seen at start of Covid pandemic”
…which was in the Guardian last week.
One potentially telling sign is that, after two years of Covid graphs appearing on every frontpage on the net, The Guardian is mixing it up this week by adding climate graphs (note the lack of y-axes):
Maybe it’s meaningless, or maybe it’s just one other small way to flow into climate from Covid.
So, the some questions moving forward…
- Why can’t they do this remotely?
- Which paper will have the craziest headline?
- Who will make the most embarassing speech (but be called “brave” in the press anyway)?
- How long before someone recommends “climate lockdowns”?
- …seriously, why couldn’t they do this remotely?
As always, discuss below.
Read the full article at the original website
References:
- https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1511216/COP26-accommodation-cruise-ships-taxpayers-EVG
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cop26-summit-vaccine-passports-glasgow-b1933402.html
- https://www.dumptheguardian.com/environment/live/2021/nov/01/cop26-begins-world-leaders-glasgow-climate-crisis-live
- https://off-guardian.org/2021/08/16/the-ipcc-report-the-pivot-from-covid-to-climate/
- https://off-guardian.org/2021/04/23/climate-is-the-new-covid/
- https://off-guardian.org/2021/06/10/is-a-climate-lockdown-on-the-horizon/
- https://www.dumptheguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/26/climate-crisis-needs-same-urgency-start-covid-pandemic-uk