White males lead the way to Armageddon. Photo: Necati Savas / EU 2026, CCA 4.0
By Anne Enith Cooper
It’s one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock […] let’s make it the moment
when humanity begin to defuse that bomb. – Boris Johnson, Glasgow, 2021.
During COP 26 it’s widely reported a white truffle, still moist,
from the Italian woodlands of Alba, grown in fertile earth
between the Tanaro and Po River, was sold at auction
for 90 000 euros to a woman who had flown in from Hong Kong.
A Hindu devotee strides through the waters
of the holy Yamuna River in Delhi, arms lifted above
phosphate laden white foam from clothing factories
that churn around her body like cumulus clouds. Meanwhile
a woman in Sydney, Australia in a bathroom
with smart dimmer switch and adjustable hue, flushes
her new white smart loo. On a bridge over the Clyde
members of Scientist Rebellion in white lab coats
chain themselves together, the first mass arrest
of scientists during the climate crisis. Under water deprived
white painted roofs of makeshift homes in Lima people sweat
overlooking manicured lawns and swimming pools. Meanwhile
The Conference of The Parties 26 Decision (CMA.3)
Glasgow Climate Pact November 2021 calls upon
“Parties to accelerate the phasing-out phase down
of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels unabated coal power…”2
The tears of Alok Shama make headlines
as campaigners are locked out.
“When I arrived at COP26 all I could only see was white
middle-aged men in suits. And I thought, hold on
is this a climate conference or some corporate event?
Is this what you came for? To swap business cards?”1
The Justice and Foreign Secretary Simon Kofe
of the British Commonwealth island nation Tuvalu
makes his address in a prerecorded video
knee deep in the sea
as the island sinks
beneath the waves.
Notes
- The words of Magali Cho Lin Wing, 17, a member of the U.K. UNICEF Youth Advisory Board
2.“Unabated coal” refers only to coal burning without carbon capture and storage (CCS).
