West Palm Beach mayor to attend international climate change conference in Dubai

West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James is scheduled to participate in an international climate change conference in Dubai, his second international trip in as many years.

James traveled to Israel in 2022 as part of a delegation of U.S. mayors invited to the Middle East by the American Jewish Committee's Project Interchange.

Dubai's COP28 conference — the 28th "conference of the parties" summit held since 150 governments signed a United Nations climate change agreement in 1992 — is scheduled to run from Nov. 30 through Dec. 12 at Expo City Dubai, an exhibition and trade center in the United Arab Emirates.

James left for Dubai on Wednesday and is scheduled to return on Dec. 7.

International climate change conferences are often attended by national government representatives, despite the fact that agreed upon goals often require buy-in, ordinance and policy changes from local governments. James will be part of a large contingent of U.S. mayors participating in COP28.

“Cities are at the forefront of climate impacts and solutions,” James said.

At the close of Monday's City Commission meeting, James said he'll be "taking the story of West Palm Beach, what we have been doing in our climate change and sustainability journey, and certainly listening with open ears to hear about best practices that other communities are doing."

In announcing James' plan to participate in COP28, the city noted some of its climate change accomplishments, including:

-An "A" rating from a group that analyzes how transparent governments and businesses are in disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions.

-A municipal Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED certification.

-A goal of having its greenhouse gas emissions at net zero by 2050.

-A sustainability and climate change resiliency action plan.

-Updates to an assessment on the city's vulnerability to climate change.

Al Gore, other activists already criticizing CEO of oil company heading up the conference

COP28 is being hosted this year by Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization that oversees donations made by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The conference has gotten off to something of a rocky start. The BBC and other media outlets have reported that Al-Jaber planned to use the conference as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals. And some climate change activists, including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, criticized the decision to have the leader of one of the largest oil companies in the world serve as a co-host of an international climate change conference.

"The chances for real progress at COP28 were badly damaged early this year when an oil company CEO was appointed to lead the negotiations," Gore said in response to the BBC's report, according to CBS News. "And now investigative journalists have confirmed some of the worst fears of those who criticized that absurd appointment with the shocking news that the President-designate has been using the meetings he has set up with nations around the world to sell more oil and gas. Using international climate talks as leverage to shore up support for pumping more oil and gas at a time when we urgently need to phase out fossil fuels is — to say the least — utterly appalling."

Bloomberg Philanthropies is covering the cost of James' travel to and accommodations in Dubai, according to a statement released by the city of West Palm Beach.

James endorsed Bloomberg during the former mayor's brief run for president in 2020. Bloomberg is covering travel costs for James and 44 other U.S. mayors, James said.

Mayor Keith James' wife is also going to Dubai but 'on her own dime'

Keith James' wife, Lorna James, is joining her husband on the trip, though he wryly noted that she won't be seated next to him on the roughly 14-hour flight to Dubai.

"I'm stating publicly my wife will be going on her own dime," the mayor said. "I can say honestly my wife will not be flying business class because that is a $17,000 ticket. I'm just a mayor. I'm on a fixed income."

Smiling, the mayor, whose annual salary is $150,000, added: "We found her a lower-priced ticket. I'll be up in the front. She'll be back there. But she's willing to do this."

That could be because Lorna James, managing director for an IT consulting firm, has an ulterior motive.

"She is insisting that we ride camels when we are in Dubai," the mayor said. "I am ... resisting that effort. The true test of my marriage will be whether there are pictures of me riding a camel when I return. So, we'll see."

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach mayor to attend COP28 climate change conference in Dubai