Do 70,000 people really need to be at COP28?

Participants arriving at the venue of the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai on Nov 29. This COP has been the biggest since the UN climate conference started in 1995. — AFP

HOW many people do you think it takes to hammer out a global climate agreement? 500? 5,000? 50,000?

Apparently, the correct answer is 70,000. That’s about how many people would have turned up in Dubai for COP28, the latest United Nations climate confab, by the time it ends on Tuesday, Dec 12.