The 28th annual Conference of the Parties, COP28, opens this week in Dubai. For the 28th time, the nations of the world have gathered to see what progress they can make on addressing the increasingly global climate crisis. It’s fair to wonder why, after three decades, we still haven’t taken the collective action necessary. And it’s equally fair to wonder why diplomats continue to bother with what Greta Thunberg famously called “blah, blah, blah.”

This year’s COP marks the first “Global Stocktake,” an assessment of how the nations of the world are doing compared to the emissions-cutting commitments they made in Paris. The answer? Not well. And with COP28 being hosted by a major oil and gas producing nation and led by an industry executive, what hope is there for progress?

Guests:

Daniel Esty, Professor of Environmental Law & Policy, Yale Law School

Ben Stockton, Investigative Reporter

Aisha Khan, Chief Executive, Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change

This episode features a segment from Contributing Reporter Rabiya Jaffrey.

For show notes and related links, visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices