Why We Are Boycotting COP28

Regeneration International and the Organic Consumers Association are boycotting COP28. We have participated in every COP since in Paris in 2015

The ministers from 196 countries, their entourages of staff, UN bureaucrats, and corporate executives will fly into Dubai in private jets and on first-class tickets. They will stay in 5-star hotels, eat in the finest restaurants, and be chauffeured in expensive luxury limousines to and from the talkfest at taxpayers’ expense. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be wasted on this extravagant display of corrupt excess. And don’t forget their massive greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change.

Like many other not-for-profit organizations, we have spent much money, time, and effort attending these events to stop catastrophic climate change. We flew cattle class, stayed in overpriced dives, and caught public transport to the meetings. We were allowed to observe but not participate in the negotiations. We were segregated in an observer’s area where we could hold side events to give our messages to a handful of like-minded people, preaching to the converted instead of being able to influence the negotiators.