Yes, there is a lot of greenwashing, but Cop summits are our best chance of averting climate breakdown

A record 41.6 gigatons of carbon emissions will be reached this year, according to the Global Carbon Budget. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

It was never an indication of great things to come when the chief executive of Cop29, Elnur Soltanov, was filmed attempting to broker gas and oil deals for Azerbaijan in the slipstream of the past fortnight’s UN climate summit in Baku.

More than 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists have been operating in and around Cop29, outnumbering delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries combined. Many, including Greta Thunberg, now argue that the UN climate process has been entirely hijacked by corporate interests, reduced to a global stage for greenwash.