Said it before, will say it again. #COP26 is utterly irrelevant for people who want to do real stuff in #Manchester.
Still, here’s a very lightly annotated list of a tiny proportion of the hot takes. I have even wasted time I don’t have on a kind of matrix,
But it could have been done before COP finished. Why?
Because, COP26 – like others before it – was a Rorschach (inkblot) test ; what you saw depended on what you expected to see, and what your vision of a “reasonable” response to the climate emergency might be. After each shitshow there are some who for ideological, career or psychological reasons want to say “well, THIS bit was good, so NEXT year you should pay me/pay me attention to go to wherever it is and report on the slow progress.” In the language of the con, it’s known as ‘cooling out the mark’. Then there are other people who say “it was a shitshow, we’ve been betrayed.” Which is fine, but why the (mock?) surprise. After 26 go-rounds, aren’t you a little, um, naive? Meanwhile, most people on this planet have only the dimmest awareness it was even going on… Lucky blighters.
“Empty words, no action” First Nations perspective in the Guardian.
Also, Pacific Islands getting screwed again, also the Guardian.
Global Justice Now folks – “1.5 on life support”
We’re so screwed… James Dyke writing in the I.
BBC journo Matt McGrath “Seen in that light, the agreement reached here after extended negotiations looks like a limp sticking-plaster for the deep wound that’s threatening life on this planet.”
Michael Jacobs on Twitter. Thread
Climate deal offers relief for wealthy nations but vulnerable fear ‘death sentence’ Financial Times November 15, 2021
ECIU –
And I live tweeted their recent webinar which you can watch here.
Carbon Brief’s comprehensive and possibly authoritative view- here.
Business Green – quick story
Green Alliance “was COP26 a success is the wrong question” –
Edie (business website) “7 takeaways” – good piece
All these pieces above are worth skimming. But ask yourself why you are spending your finite time and energy on that, when there are local councils that YOU could be trying to influence, getting away with spin and nonsense. My reason for reading all these was because I have a professional interest these days. Without it, I would not have bothered. Local. Local. Local.
manchester climate monthly 