Prior to DOGE shutting off my government travel card, I used to go to climate conferences full of pundits. I never went to Davos or COP or any of the big ones (those were for my big boss), but I had some of the same reactions as you. It could feel like a lot of people talking in a room to hear themselves talk. It was a big adjustment coming from working in factories where the whole job there was to get things off the line. And this isn’t to say there wasn’t some benefit to conferences — day-to-day factory stuff is rarely strategic — but it could veer into an echo chamber quickly.
Prior to DOGE shutting off my government travel card, I used to go to climate conferences full of pundits. I never went to Davos or COP or any of the big ones (those were for my big boss), but I had some of the same reactions as you. It could feel like a lot of people talking in a room to hear themselves talk. It was a big adjustment coming from working in factories where the whole job there was to get things off the line. And this isn’t to say there wasn’t some benefit to conferences — day-to-day factory stuff is rarely strategic — but it could veer into an echo chamber quickly.
Oh my god isn't it incredible how much banality can be packed into a single hotel ballroom???
Ahem “important conversations are being held in the room.”
COP30 had Brazilian indigenous activists protesting for actual climate which…good for them: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/11/1166373