So it begins. An estimated 70,000 politicians, business leaders, scientists, activists, journalists and others from around the world have or will pour into Dubai for two weeks, maybe more, of climate events and deliberations.

In a year that saw the average global surface temperature breach 2 degrees Celsius of warming on multiple days (that¡¯s deeply concerning!), the need for faster progress toward climate targets is more urgent than ever. Many will be waiting with bated breath to see whether this meeting winds up being a success or a failure.

Held in the United Arab Emirates, a kingdom built on oil, this particular iteration of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP28, has already been one of the most controversial COP meetings ever, raising fears that it¡¯ll be deemed another letdown.

Back at the start of the year, I noted that it was deeply problematic for COP28¡¯s president-designate, Sultan al-Jaber, to be the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil, the world¡¯s 12th-largest oil company by production whilst presiding over a summit aimed at reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Opponents to his nomination likely felt vindicated when, on Monday, the BBC revealed leaked briefing documents that the UAE planned to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations at the conference.

For some context: The aim of the summit is for governments to get together and make decisions on how best to tackle climate change. The Conference of the Parties ¡ª COP ¡ª is the supreme decision-making body, bringing together everyone who¡¯s formally joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

COP28 will cover a broad range of topics, from finalizing the Loss and Damage Fund, intended to provide financial assistance to vulnerable nations impacted by the climate crisis, to the culmination of the first Global Stocktake ¡ª a mechanism built into the Paris Agreement to assess progress toward goals and ratchet up ambitions.

But we arguably know what¡¯s going to happen. There¡¯ll be a big fight over some words on fossil fuels, particularly over whether we ought to ¡°phase out¡± or ¡°phase down¡± their use. Plenty of concessions will be made at the behest of powerful polluters. And the culmination will be a series of political statements and perhaps an operational Loss and Damage Fund, but none of it will be enough to save the planet.

It¡¯s beyond time to ask whether COP works as it should. After all, we¡¯ve had nearly three decades of summits, yet emissions continue to climb. There are clear problems: The voting structure means that all decisions must be made by consensus, meaning that all 198 countries who are members of the UNFCCC must agree. That ensures that the...