Dutch professor: UN climate summit is a circus, little progress

The annual climate summits are a "huge circus to make very small steps" in climate policy, says Dutch professor Bart van den Hurk. As an expert, he has been keeping an eye on the climate summits for some time, but he seriously wonders whether they will deliver the "big breakthrough". Van den Hurk was appointed co-chairman of one of the working groups of the UN climate panel IPCC this year.

The COP28 climate summit starts in Dubai on November 30. Such a summit is important for a network of scientists and policymakers, says Van den Hurk, professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. "But I now increasingly see that new policies to limit climate change are not settled with a report or a negotiation." He calls the process of changing society very complex. As a researcher, he wants to pay more attention to this.

"Where science stops, 'tackling' must begin. But these social processes often move too slowly." Van den Hurk wants the important UN climate panel to also look for "what decisiveness is rooted in". He wants to better understand how decision-making develops and where it might be possible to do it faster. "We want to focus much more on the action that is needed."

Action is needed is also evident from all the reports that come out just before the climate summit in Dubai starts. UN organizations UNEP and UNFCCC both conclude that countries worldwide are still taking far too few steps to limit global warming. They hope that COP28 will be a turning point. “Governments must not only agree on stronger climate action but also show how exactly they can achieve them,” UNFCCC chief Simon Stiell said.

Van den Hurk has a hard time about it. "In all those reports, the urgency can be increased. But that does not automatically lead to more measures." He believes that the IPCC should also show how societies are moving away from old industries. And how developing countries can incorporate the transition to becoming climate-neutral into their development process. "Negotiations on compensation funds also play an important role. A world in which prosperity is better distributed is better able to tackle the causes and consequences of climate change. Rich countries should therefore provide this financial support out of their own interests."