Hopping on a kerosene-guzzling plane to an oil-producing nation to talk about how the world needs to cut down on fossil fuels has an irony not lost on me. As I found on my visit to the latest COP 28 in the United Arab Emirates, the climate conversation is full of contradictions. But despite the obvious trouble with the conference, I found the summit was full of useful conversations about the future of travel in a warming world. After all, people are still going to take holidays, and if it can be done more sustainably while helping those on the sharp end of climate change, that can only be a good thing.
When I arrived at COP it felt like a sustainability Disneyland in the desert: a bit like arranging deckchairs on the Titanic. The Epcot Centre-like dome had pretty lights, astroturf-carpeted floors, and jaunty slogans shouting at us to “Unite. Act. Deliver”. Sure, it sounds like satire — especially since one imagines much that purpose-washing branding is currently winging its way to landfill. But what Dubai’s ExpoCity underscored, with its flashy video installations, food stalls and Instagram-friendly eco-activations, is that climate awareness is now part of the mainstream, and industry leaders from around the world travelled to the UAE take the topic seriously.
