The Vast Dilema Of Assad’s COP28 Invite
Weaponising climate politics? Or ensuring climate action unity?
The United Arab Emirates is hosting the next global climate change conference, COP28, and has controversially invited Syrian dictator-president Bashar al-Assad. This move has been denounced by many Western leaders, given the horror of the Syrian civil war driven by Assad and his deplorable war crimes against his own civilians. But, some within the climate action community see this as an opportunity to strengthen global cohesion to fight climate change. So, why did the UAE invite Assad? Can Assad’s presence really enhance COP28? Or is something else going on?
Let’s start with who Assad is and why the West is shocked at his invitation to COP28. Bashar al-Assad took the presidency of Syria from his Father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000 after his death. So, Bashar is a full-blown nepotist dictator. In Mach 2011, the Syrian civil war broke out. After years of horrific droughts, a dramatically declining economy, limited water supplies, massive levels of unemployment, widespread corruption and basically no political freedom, the people of Syria were fed up. The civil war started as protests, then devolved into full-on war against Syria’s military as Assad tried to crack down.
