"Let's lead change. Action builds trust. Turn promises into progress. Hope inspires action".
These are among the many, many motivational and inspirational quotes hanging from ceilings and walls, lampposts and posters throughout the space-age Expo Centre in Dubai, chosen as home to this year's United Nations Climate Summit, COP28.
No doubt a team of organisers had a field day trawling through a google search for inspirational quotes and motivational quips.
Probably got huge money for doing it too.
"Turn promises into progress. Think without limits. Turn rhetoric into respect. Let's act now".
The fact that there are so many of these giant quotes hanging throughout the place diminishes their overall impacts quite a bit. It's overkill.
There are so many of them that they are lessened and their power to inspire is weakened. They become demoted to a kind of visual noise.
Most people rushing through this giant venue probably don't even stop to notice them anymore, let alone be inspired by them. There are too many.
"Think without limits. Let’s turn rhetoric into respect. Let's act now".
Your head would be spinning if you decided to think about them all. So you start not to notice them.
It's a pity really. Because there is nothing wrong with uplifting quotes.
I usually like a smattering of inspirational pearls of wisdom myself. Particularly if I'm not in a rush and have some time to contemplate their meaning.
It's just that COP28 is not that kind of place. Nobody of any importance at the climate talks has the time.
Certainly not the main players behind the scenes charged with ironing out the major changes, disruptions and compromises required among the 196 disparate countries and fossil fuel interests.
Imagine being an oil executive, or a senior civil servant in a relatively poor country dependent on cheap coal. You walk into a room full of climate warriors and negotiators at a summit. You know in your heart they dearly want to put you out of business.
So you look at the ceiling. Or you look out the window. And you see them. Quotes. All over the place.
"Unite. Act. Deliver. Action creates belief. Let’s turn promises into progress".
It would surely drive you mad. Get your back up.
I certainly don't think that at that moment in time I would find it very inspiring.
And anyway, there aren't many climate warriors these days who want to inspire oil executives. They mainly want to get rid of them instead.
No doubt the quotes would be just as ineffective if the boot was on the other foot - if you were an environmental campaigner walking into a reception at COP28 organised by some filthy-rich oil company.
You know the ones I mean.
The likes of Exxon Mobil who lied and covered up for decades what their own scientists told them about global warming - how their own activities and lust for profits would drive the world towards environmental disaster. The data, the science, the proof. They had it all but made sure nobody found out while they continued to get rich.
It wouldn't matter how smiley an oil executive in that room might be towards you. Or how many inspiring quotes they plastered on the walls and ceilings outside. There are very few environmentalists worth their salt would be prepared to drop their guard long enough to be inspired. It is suspicion rather than inspiration that would jump to mind.
Climate negotiation is a serious business. It's not motivation the main players need any more. It is stamina.
Climate talks have been going on since the mid-1990s. This is the 28th time the so-called "leaders of the world" have come together to try to address the environmental catastrophe that is unfolding.
Everybody now knows about it. We all know the world is on fire. We all know there is no time to waste.
Yet endless arguments about what needs to be done, who needs to do it, where the money is going to come from, and so much more, go on and on. It makes progress seem so painfully slow.
But make no mistake. There is progress. Significant progress in many cases.
Rightly, there was a lot of suspicion and criticism when the United Arab Emirates managed to wrestle the Presidency of COP28 for themselves this year.
How could that happen quizzed many. UAE is one of the largest and most profitable fossil fuel producers in the world. It has gotten richer and richer while the global environment was getting poorer and poorer.
You can see it in the way the country has grown.
The population of UAE has increased by 23,224 %since the start of the industrial oil age in 1850.
No, that is not a misprint. Seriously.
I will say it again. It is twenty three thousand, two hundred, and twenty four per cent!
UAE has had the highest rate of population growth in the entire world on the back of oil and fossil fuels and the wealth that it has brought it over the past 170 years.
Its population has gone from 40,000 people to 9.3 million since 1849. You can find those statistics quite easily on the "Our World in Data" website.
How could it be, environmentalists asked, that oil rich Arabs would be allowed to preside over climate change talks.
Is this not a case of the foxes taking over the hen house? Is this not greenwashing? Is this not a joke?
These were the kind of quips that went around. All legitimate fears, of course.
Then UAE appoints Dr Sultan Al Jaber, none other than the Chief executive of its National Oil Company, to be the man to take charge of the discussions!
You know the rest. A leaked briefing document indicating that the UAE would use the opportunities of a side meeting around COP28 to progress new oil and gas deals with foreign governments.
Shocking stuff really when one considers the importance of leaving the fossil fuels in the ground to prevent runaway climate change.
Against that background the events and agreements made over the past few days have been quite a surprise.
Sultan Al Jaber surprised many in his opening speech by outlining that fossil fuel companies must play their part in addressing climate change.
On day one he pushed to ensure agreement on the new Loss and Damage Fund to help the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the event of climate disasters.
It is unprecedented in the previous 28 COP meetings that any agreement about anything was made on the first day. Usually nothing is agreed until the very end if at all.
So determined was he to have good start, that the UAE instantly put $100 million into the Loss and Damage pot. Trillions, of course, is what many think the UAE ought to put in over a number of years. But $100m on day one was a good enough start.
Next came the announcement from the UAE of a $50 billion climate investment fund to be focussed on the global south with the aim of cranking it up to €250bn with contributions form other investors over time.
I know the notion of rich Arabs and their rich pals in the global investment community starting to make profits from climate-action-investments will sicken many an eco-warrior.
But the point is this. Oil producers are finally getting on board the climate action bus.
They have spent years and and years denying the reality of the climate change crisis. Some have even spent millions and millions of dollars promoting misinformation and downright lies about the damage fossil addiction was causing. Now the world can see one of the biggest oil and gas operators in the world scrambling to get on board.
Where the UAE goes other fossil fuel producer will surely follow. And that is progress indeed.
There is one final quote hanging on the walls around the Expo City in Dubai that I will sign off with. It’s from a man named Mirko Scheldbbauer, the owner of Shipzero - a transport logistics company focussed on sustainability.
It says: "The most important step is the first , to start moving, because others then move."
Let's hope those words on the wall of wisdom turn out to be prophetic and inspire the fossil fuel industry at COP28 in Dubai.
