The Failure of COP29: A Disaster We Cannot Accept
Sue Barrett
Pioneering human-centred communication & collaboration in the Age of AI; helping people engage, lead & sell better, build healthy relationships, drive strategic growth, champion fair work practices & better democracy
As COP29 limps to a close, the world is once again confronted with the staggering failure of the so-called "developed" nations to address the climate crisis. The draft agreements are weak, riddled with loopholes, and utterly detached from the urgency of our situation. The billionaire class and their fossil fuel backers, driven by short-term profits, have hijacked the very meetings designed to save humanity. These psychopaths, narcissists, and extremists, obsessed with wealth and power, are leaving behind a toxic, fatal legacy. Enough is enough.
The Billionaire Class and Their Toxic Legacy
The fossil fuel industry and its enablers—politicians, billionaires, and complicit governments—are the architects of our destruction. They know the science. They understand the stakes. Yet, they continue to pump billions into fossil fuel subsidies, block renewable energy initiatives, and deny the reality of our collapsing ecosystems. Why? Because for these megalomaniacs, enough money is never enough.
The sheer insanity of their actions is breathtaking. In the face of rising seas, record-breaking heat, and mass extinctions, they laugh in our faces while building private bunkers and dreaming of colonising Mars. This is not leadership. This is a death cult. And their cowardly political puppets are no better—beholden to donors and too spineless to stand up for the people they claim to represent.
Governments Failing the People
The developed nations, those with the resources and historical responsibility to lead, have proven themselves utterly incapable of meaningful action. Instead of transitioning away from fossil fuels, they continue to bow to the whims of corporate power. Their cowardice is condemning billions to a future of suffering.
COP29 should have been a turning point. Instead, it has become yet another exercise in greenwashing, platitudes, and broken promises. These meetings have become performative theatre, a stage for leaders to feign concern while lining their pockets with fossil fuel money.
For the Ordinary Person: Steps to Fight Back
So, what can ordinary citizens do in the face of such overwhelming failure? A lot more than you might think. Here are pragmatic steps we can take to reclaim power:
A Call to Action
We cannot sit idly by while the billionaire class and their enablers condemn us to a human-ending crisis. These people are not leaders—they are destroyers. Their obsession with money and power has made them blind to the devastation they are causing. It is up to us, the ordinary people, to take back control.
This is not hyperbole. This is survival. The time for polite conversation is over. We must organise, resist, and demand a livable future. We must push our governments to act for humanity, not for the billionaire few. And we must do it now.
The message is simple: Enough is enough.