Cop Out

Why, after thirty years of international climate negotiations to reduce carbon emissions, has the UN process failed to deliver a survivable outcome? Nick Breeze goes behind the scenes at the UN COPs, from Paris to Dubai, to find out what on Earth is going on.

Most people tend to turn away, perhaps understandably, from the key existential issue of the day: climate change or, some would say more accurately, climate collapse.

Nick Breeze tells the engaging, very human story of successive COP conferences over the past decade: it is a tale of imperfection, failure even, but not yet defeat. So far, the UN process has achieved almost the exact opposite of what it first set out to achieve at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

Nick shows clearly that it is not Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil nor any other climate protesters who are the extremists; the true extremists are the policymakers who consistently undermine faltering efforts to reduce emissions. Repeatedly claiming to be saving us whilst allowing carbon emissions to continue rising, governments have failed their people on climate.

Nick shows us how, why and what we can do about it. The public remains largely uninformed about climate change and, for the most part, those who seek to draw attention to the issue are seen as ‘crazy’. There remains a terrifying gap between scientific reality and political action.

Packed with his own experiences and insights from expert interviewees, this page-turning account is less about the intricacies of the science and more about the mainstream perception of how we are understanding and responding to the problem.

Nick Breeze has been interviewing climate scientists and related experts since setting out in 2009 with a film crew to interview Professor James Lovelock for a proposed documentary with the working title A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Gaia. In 2017, he co-founded the Cambridge Climate Lecture Series (CCLS), which brings world-renowned experts to Trinity College for livestreamed lectures on a range of climate issues. Nick is a wine journalist, and the UK Ambassador for the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme.