THIS WEEK AND next week, thousands of world leaders, activists and the watching media are gathering in the Amazon to discuss the climate at COP30.

The annual COP gathering attracts a fair degree of scepticism, cynicism and in some quarters increasing amounts of derision – and I can understand why. The image of droves of people flying across the world to talk as the world continues to burn can, for some, be seen as a modern day version of Nero fiddling.

The belief that a country the size of Ireland can have limited impact sits comfortably with those who are constantly being told to change their ways, make sacrifices and pay more; especially in the face of larger countries refusing to play a comprehensive part.

In 2015, the parties of the COP came together to agree the goal of keeping average warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to seek to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

When the Paris Agreement was signed, it was a beacon of great hope; a victory for the multilateral system, for climate diplomacy, and for international solidarity and progress.

A decade on, the only thing that has changed are global temperatures – and they are rising. Our current trajectory shows that we are on track for warming of 2.7°C by 2100.

Parallel to that is a growing level of apathy to the challenge and resistance to difficult actions mixed with increased climate scepticism.

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So, all that said, why am I joining the cast of characters travelling to COP30?

Simply put, the COP process really matters. It may be flawed, but it is the best and indeed only........

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