Perspective with Heather duPlessis-Allan: Who is Labour's climate spokesperson?

OK, quick quiz for you.

Think of the Labour Party.

Who is the climate spokesperson?

Yeah, no, you didn't get it right because it's Deborah Russell.

I know.

I didn't think it was that either.

I didn't know it.

And you know what, it's my job to know this kind of stuff.

But to be fair to me, in the entirety of this year thus far, Deborah has only put out 3 press releases on the climate and the third one was today.

And guess what it was about?

It was announcing that Deborah is going to the annual Global Climate conference, COP 30, and she's gonna be leaving on Sunday and she's gonna be coming back Saturday, which means she's there basically for a week because of course she is, because who doesn't want a week in Brazil on the boss's credit card.

I see what Deborah's doing.

But let's also see this for what it is, right?

Deborah's contribution to the climate this year is 3 press releases and a long-haul flight to Brazil return.

So all up, a net negative contribution to the climate, which pretty much is the story though.

And just not to pick on Deborah here, because this is what everybody's doing.

This is the story of every single COP, isn't it?

Thousands of people fly into a place burning up who knows how many emissions, only to have a gab fest, issue a bunch of press releases and really achieve nothing.

A massive net negative for the climate.

That's what COP is.

You know what the big news story out of COP is today?

That it's failed.

1.5 is dead.

It will not be achieved.

This was what we were told we needed to do to save humanity.

Hit 1.5, keep the temperature rises to 1.5, no more.

We have known for a while that 1.5 is dead.

It is now officially dead.

So Deborah is flying to a conference that has already admitted that the aim of COP 26, which is four conferences ago, which was to keep 1.5 alive, is actually dead in the water.

In which case, it begs the question, why do we keep wasting emissions to go to an annual get-together that fails every single year?

I think I've got the answer, because it means a week in Brazil.

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