The United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP29) has kicked off on Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan, a year after a historic agreement to transition away from coal, oil and gas.
The gathering, which brought together world leaders, policymakers, and activists with a renewed commitment to address intensifying climate crises, commenced just days after the election of Donald Trump. This happened as Earth is on track to endure its hottest year on record for the second year in a row.
As nations gather at this year’s talks, which are scheduled to run until Nov. 22, delegates will also have to contend with their countries’ failure so far to deliver on the central pledge of last year’s negotiations.
The United States, for one, is producing more oil than any country, ever — a trajectory expected to accelerate when Trump returns to the White House.
Leaders are aiming to create a new target for funding climate action in developing countries. But such negotiations are expected to be difficult and contentious. Simon Stiell, the United Nations’ executive secretary for climate change, said that without better financing, it will be “near impossible” to achieve the world’s climate goals.
Addressing the opening session Monday, the COP29 president, Mukhtar Babayev, said the world faces an “unmissable” moment to address an existential problem and needs “more than prayers and paperwork.”
Babayev, who spent much of his career at Azerbaijan’s state-run oil and gas company, reminded countries of last year’s pledge on fossil fuels and said nation-level emissions-reduction plans — due in the coming months — are a “last chance to put the world on track.”
China, one of the world’s leading emitters of greenhouse gases, has so far defied pressure to set ambitious climate targets and to do more to help poor nations cope with the ravages of a warming world. Experts say that at this year’s talks, any commitments from China, as well as the United States, could persuade other countries to set strong climate targets, too.
The conference has big significance as it plays a major role in the implementation of global climate change. Ethiopian delegation participating in this international conference is in Baku.