Following a year of weather disasters that have bolstered developing nations’ demands for climate funds, the annual UN climate conference got underway Monday with nations getting ready for difficult discussions on trade and finance.
The COP29 summit’s main agenda item, a deal for up to $1 trillion in yearly climate money for developing nations, is what delegates gathered in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, aim to resolve. The original goal was $100 billion.
This objective is vying for resources and attention against economic worries, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and the election of climate change denier Donald Trump to a second term as president of the United States, the largest economy in the world.
As the president of the meeting, Mukhtar Babayev declared that the world was “on a road to ruin” and that the summit represented a “moment of truth” for global climate goals. “You all must cross the bridge, even if Azerbaijan constructs it. He informed delegates at Baku Stadium that “in fact, we need to start running.”
The Caspian Sea nation, which takes pride in having the first oil wells in the world, is under pressure to demonstrate progress on its commitment to move away from fossil fuels at last year’s COP28. In 2023, oil and gas earnings made for 35% of Azerbaijan’s GDP, compared to 50% two years prior. According to the government, these revenues will drop even more by 2028, reaching 22%. Following China’s last-minute suggestion to include trade conflicts in the summit talks, nations must agree on an agenda before they begin.
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