In politics, it is easy to shake a fist. It is harder to shake a hand. But more progress is made through cooperation than conflict. That truth is worth bearing in mind as the latest dust-up over the next UN climate conference unfolds.

Recently, a group of elected officials from the United States and Europe signed a letter demanding the removal of Dr Sultan Al Jaber as the president-designate of the UN climate convening, COP28, in the United Arab Emirates, at the end of this year. Many signers of the letter, who included some of the most far-left members of the US Congress, also opposed the selection of the UAE as the host country for COP28. How can a climate conference, they argued, take place in an oil-producing state? The answer is: We need oil producers at the table – including the US, which is the largest oil producer in the world. And the UAE would not be the first oil-rich nation to host a COP.