Reader’s letters: Is it worth it?

Now that the real cost of achieving net zero targets is beginning to be a issue in British politics, it is time to remind ourselves that we are due for another ‘big’ event — the forthcoming 28th session (COP28) of the Conference of the Parties, which will, once again, convene from November 30 to December 12 in the United Arab Emirates.

Those parties are UN member states plus some observers.

The last one, COP27 held in Sharm el Sheik in Egypt, was attended by 12,000 delegates from more than 200 countries.

We should remember that a COP has been held every year for 27 years (except for 2020).

In December 2015, the 196 parties attending the COP agreed ‘to limit global warming to 1.5°C by a ‘legally binding international treaty on climate change’.

The treaty in Paris was seen as a landmark agreement.

Pope Francis, in his Laudate Deum Exhortation, has summed up the problem by declaring that these ‘accords have been poorly implemented, due to lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of noncompliance due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests above the global common good’.

It is clear to us all that CO2emissions are at record (and still rising) levels and that the landmark international treaty designed to rein them in does not seem to have driven action.

One definition of insanity is ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.’ (attributed to Einstein)

We should ask ourselves is it really necessary for the world to send another 12,000 delegates (at least) to an oil rich state to reach just the same conclusions? — R. SHEPPARD, Beckingham.