UN climate conferences fail as oil states host pointless talks

In December 2024, the United Nations convened a significant climate conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, focusing on the pressing issue of global drought exacerbated by climate change. The event attracted 197 nations, who participated in discussions aimed at creating a robust plan to tackle the increasing severity and frequency of droughts worldwide. Despite intensive negotiations over a 12-day period, the countries were unable to reach consensus on a legally binding agreement, pushing discussions to the next conference in 2026 in Mongolia. This failure to agree is particularly concerning given the ongoing climate crisis, which has been exacerbated by human activities leading to environmental degradation. A UNCCD report pointed out the dire consequences of droughts, emphasizing that nearly five billion people could be affected by drought conditions due to the continuing trends of global warming. The report highlighted the disparities between developed and developing nations, with the latter seeking more concrete commitments from the former to ensure adequate support and solutions for the hardest-hit regions. Throughout the talks, African countries presented a united front, advocating for a binding protocol that would obligate all nations to develop comprehensive drought preparation and response strategies. However, tensions arose when wealthier countries favored a more flexible framework likely to result in insufficient action against the drought threat. The Saudi host, criticized for past efforts to sidestep emission reductions, pledged substantial investments to address desertification and drought, but many delegates felt that such initiatives were not enough in the face of an urgent global challenge. The lack of progress at the Riyadh talks encapsulates a broader pattern observed at recent UN climate conferences, where discussions on vital topics such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution have stalled or produced نتائج مخيبة. Environmentalists and activists have increasingly voiced their frustration, asserting that the time for empty promises has passed, and immediate, decisive action is necessary to combat these existential threats effectively.