BAKU, Azerbaijan — As the United Nations climate conference (COP29) commenced in Baku, Azerbaijan, a stark contrast emerged between the passionate rhetoric, urgent appeals, and pledges of cooperation on one hand and the backdrop of seismic political shifts, global conflicts, and economic hardships on the other. The immediate focus of the two-week session is the pressing issue of climate finance.
In Baku, where the world’s first oil well was drilled, the distinct odor of fuel permeates the air. This setting serves as a poignant reminder as COP29 embarks on the crucial task of negotiating a new agreement on the substantial financial flows required to curb and adapt to climate change. The goal is to secure hundreds of billions, or even trillions, of dollars annually from wealthy nations to assist developing countries in their transition to clean energy, compensate for climate disasters largely attributed to carbon emissions from developed nations, and adapt to future extreme weather events.
“These figures may seem astronomical, but they pale in comparison to the cost of inaction,” declared Mukhtar Babayev, the newly appointed COP29 president, as he assumed his role. “COP29 represents a moment of truth for the ” which, in 2015, set the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
The world is currently on track for in human civilization, as reported by the European climate service Copernicus earlier this month. While the Paris 1.5 goal spans several decades, not just a single year, and “it is not possible, simply not possible,” to abandon this goal entirely, according to Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization.
Signs of climate disasters abound
Babayev emphasized that the impacts of climate change are already manifesting in the form of disasters such as hurricanes, droughts, and floods, causing widespread damage.
“We are on the road to ruin,” he warned. “Whether you witness them or not, people are suffering silently. They are dying in the dark. They need more than compassion, more than prayers and paperwork. They are demanding leadership and action.”
United Nations Climate Secretary Simon Stiell, whose home island of , recounted the story of his neighbor, an 85-year-old named Florence, to underscore the need for a way out of this crisis.
Florence’s home was destroyed, and her unwavering focus remained one: “Being strong for her family and for her community. There are people like Florence in every country on Earth. Knocked down, and getting back up again.″
Stiell asserted that this resilience is what the world must emulate in confronting climate change, especially in terms of financial support.
“Let’s dispel any notion that climate finance is charity,” Stiell stated. “An ambitious new climate finance goal is entirely in the self-interest of every nation, including the largest and wealthiest” as it would prevent future warming from reaching 5 degrees Celsius, a trajectory the world was on before taking climate action.
A backdrop of war and upheaval hangs over talks
The past year has seen a wave of political upheaval across numerous nations, most recently in the United States, the largest historical carbon emitter, and Germany, a leading climate advocate.
The , who disputes climate change and its consequences, and the collapse of the are altering climate negotiation dynamics here, experts observed.
“The global north needs to be cutting emissions even faster and should be decreasing by 20, 30, 40% now. But instead we’ve got Trump, we’ve got a German government that just fell apart because part of it wanted to be even slightly ambitious,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. “So, we are very far off.”
Initially, Azerbaijan organizers had hoped to foster a period of global ceasefire during the two weeks of negotiations. However, this did not materialize as wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere continued.
Dozens of climate activists at the conference, many of them sporting Palestinian keffiyehs, held up banners demanding climate justice and urging nations to “stop fueling genocide.”
“It’s the same systems of oppression and discrimination that are putting people on the frontlines of climate change and putting people on the front lines of conflict in Palestine,” said Lise Masson, a protester from Friends of the Earth International. She criticized the United States, the U.K., and the EU for their insufficient spending on climate finance while simultaneously supplying arms to Israel.
Mohammed Ursof, a climate activist from Gaza, called for demonstrators at the talks to “get power back to the Indigenous, power back to the people.”
Jacob Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O’odham community organizer, attended the conference with a sense of hope for a brighter future.
“Within sight of the destruction lies the seed of creation,” he remarked at a panel focused on Indigenous people’s aspirations for climate action. “We have to realize that we are not citizens of one nation, we are the Earth.”
Hopes for a strong outcome
The financial package being negotiated at this year’s talks holds significant importance because every nation has until early next year to submit new, and presumably more ambitious, targets for curbing emissions of heat-trapping gases from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. This is part of the 2015 Paris agreement, which mandates nations to strengthen their efforts every five years.
Some Pacific climate researchers have suggested that the amount of money on offer is not the primary obstacle for small island nations, which are among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels.
“There might be funding out there, but to get access to this funding for us here in the Pacific is quite an impediment,” said Hilda Sakiti-Waqa, from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. “The Pacific really needs a lot of technical help in order to put together these applications.”
The long-term global average temperature currently stands at 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, only two-tenths of a degree away from the agreed-upon threshold.
To avert more than 1.5 degrees of warming, a new United Nations report states that global carbon emissions must be reduced by 42% by 2030.
“We cannot leave Baku without a substantial outcome,” Stiell emphasized. “Now is the time to show that global cooperation is not down for the count. It is rising to the moment.”
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Associated Press reporter Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand contributed.
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