Cop conferences are a big game of let’s pretend and 27 won’t be any different

The climate summits do serve a purpose even while avoiding facing up to some awkward realities

The Cop is a strange beast - an annual event that everyone claims to hate but no one wants to miss. This year's Cop is even weirder: it's in a famous Red Sea seaside resort renowned for its warm blue seas and coral reefs, but the diving centres are closed for security reasons and in any case few of us will have time to so much as dip a toe in the sea.

We will spend all our hours inside a conference centre with little daylight, and only see the sun as we try to dash in our formal clothes from air-conditioned hotel to air-conditioned conference hall without getting covered in sweat.

The Secret Negotiators are representatives of developing countries involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations, and who will be attending the Cop27 climate conference.