Fans of western Canadian candy makers Nutty Club were saddened to hear recently that the iconic company from Winnipeg were closing their doors after 90 years.
Perhaps they might allow another group to take over the mantle, “Nutty Club.”
That would be a perfect name for the COP28 group meeting at the same time in Dubai to ‘solve’ the climate crisis.
Canada’s environment minister Steven Guilbeault hailed the surprise final document as a “monumental” deal – the first time the United Nations climate summit of nearly 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels.
Some observers hailed it as a historic turning point, stronger than a draft floated earlier in the week.
The agreement calls for countries to transition away from fossil fuels, “accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050.”
The final deal went further than the earlier draft agreement that caused an uproar. That draft, prepared by the COP presidency, made no mention of a fossil fuel phase-down or phase-out.
Guilbeault said he was “very disappointed” with the first draft, after which Canada worked with a coalition of other countries to prepare a text to present to the presidency.
But opponents – even those advocating for swift action – immediately complained the process was seriously flawed.
They warned it could undermine the real action needed to meet the global commitment to keep temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial times.
Guilbeault said the agreement “gives us a fighting chance to meet our climate goals.” He said Canada played a leading role in bringing the final product together.
Within minutes of opening the final session, COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber gavelled in approval of the central document, which includes an evaluation of how bad a job the world is doing on climate policy, without giving anyone a chance to comment.
Under a worst-case scenario, small island nations could literally see their countries flooded out of existence if sea levels rise. They were blindsided by al-Jaber’s move.
The lead negotiator for a coalition of small island nations said their group was not even in the room when al-Jaber claimed the deal was done.
That’s just a nutty way to do things.
