Jet-lag, climate villains and coffee: the seven stages of every Cop | John Vidal

Whatever the outcome of the UN's latest high-stakes crapshoot, a lengthy and arcane process must be followed firstIt's not the expectation that is unbearable with Cop26; it is the hope. The world, faced with the urgency of the climate crisis, demands that this is the summit to surpass all summits. Those of us who have experienced (or endured) them know that won't happen. There are seven stages to every Cop. This one is unlikely to be much different.1 The arrival. Here we go again. Teams of jet-lagged lobbyists, diplomats, journos, bankers and business folk queue with delegations of indigenous peoples and youth groups, lawyers, NGOs and economists to enter the parallel universe that is a UN climate Cop. Within hours, the complaints will start about the price of coffee, the distance between meeting rooms, the Glaswegian accents, the rain, the trains, the traffic, the UN security, the heavy policing and the dearth of good restaurants.John Vidal is a former Guardian environment editor Continue reading...