Baku, Azerbaijan (AP) — United Nations annual climate negotiations Monday got off to a rocky start, with more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda for the next two weeks. We then moved on to the main issue: money.
In Baku, Azerbaijan, the world’s first oil well was drilled and the smell of fuel was noticeable even outside, but the story was more about the smell of money – a lot of money. Countries will negotiate how rich countries can help poor countries transition from fossil fuels to clean energy to reduce carbon pollution, compensate for climate disasters, and adapt to future extreme weather events. are.
Hoping to start 12 days of talks known as COP29 with a victory, Monday’s meeting appeared poised to find a solution to the thorny financial issue of trading carbon pollution rights, an issue that negotiators have been unable to resolve for years. . COP29’s new president, Mukhtar Babayev, said this could free up up to $250 billion a year in spending to help poor countries.
But Erika Lennon, chief counsel at the International Environmental Law Center, warned early in the meeting that “pushing through a resolution without discussion or discussion would set a dangerous precedent for the entire negotiation process.” .
When it comes to fiscal debates, the amount of funds being discussed to help poor countries could reach $1.3 trillion annually. According to African countries, that is the need in developing countries. African countries generate 7% of the gases that trap heat in the air, but face multiple climate crises. flood to drought.
The new head of the United Nations climate talks issued a stern warning at the start of the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, Associated Press correspondent Charles de Ledesma reported.
Whatever amount each country offers would replace an older agreement that targeted $100 billion a year. Richer countries want numbers close to that number. If a deal is reached, funding could come from a variety of sources, including grants, loans and private financing.
“These numbers may sound large, but they are nothing compared to the cost of inaction,” Babayev said upon taking office.
There are many signs of climate disaster
This year, the world is moving at the pace of Temperatures will rise by 1.5 degrees, making it the hottest year yet in human civilization.
The goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels was set in the 2015 Paris Agreement. But that’s about 20 to 30 years, and that level of warming won’t last for a single year, so it’s not possible to abandon the 1.5 target yet, saying, “That’s not possible, it’s simply not possible.” is impossible, said Celeste Sauro, director general of the World Meteorological Organization.
Babaev said the effects of climate change in disasters such as hurricanes, droughts and floods are already visible and damaging.
“We are on the road to destruction,” he said. “Visible and invisible, people suffer in the shadows. They die in the dark. And they need more than compassion. More than prayers and paperwork. They want leadership and action.”
The home island of UN Climate Secretary Simon Stiel Carriacou was devastated by Hurricane Beryl earlier this year.used the story of an 85-year-old neighbor named Florence to find “a way out of this mess.”
The house was demolished and Florence focused on only one thing. “Be strong for your family and your community. There are people like Florence in every country on earth. They get knocked down, but they get back up again.”
That’s what the world needs to do about climate change, Still said.
A background of war and turmoil hangs over the negotiations.
The past year has seen political turmoil in many countries, most recently in the United States, the largest carbon emitter in history, and Germany, a climate leader.
of Donald Trump’s electioncontesting climate change, its effects, and the collapse of the state. german ruling federation Experts say the dynamics of climate change negotiations are changing.
“The Global North needs to cut emissions even faster…but instead we have President Trump. We have a German government that collapsed in part because it wanted to be a little bit more ambitious[on climate action]. ” said Friederike Otto, a climatologist at Imperial College London. “We are very far away.”
Initially, Azerbaijan’s organizers wanted countries around the world to stop fighting during negotiations. That didn’t happen because wars continued in places like Ukraine and Gaza.
Dozens of climate change activists at the conference, many wearing Palestinian kaffiyeh, held banners promoting climate justice and calling on countries to “stop inciting genocide.”
“It is the same systems of oppression and discrimination that are putting people on the front lines of climate change and putting people on the front lines of the Palestinian conflict,” said a protester from Friends of the Earth International. Lise Masson said. She criticized the US, UK and EU for not increasing spending on climate funds while supplying Israel with weapons.
Mohamed Urusof, a climate change activist from Gaza, called on the world to “give back power to indigenous peoples and give power back to people.”
Jacob Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O’odham community organizer, came to the conference with hope for a better world.
“In the sight of destruction, there are seeds of creation,” he said during a panel discussion on indigenous hopes for climate action. “We need to realize that we are not just citizens of one country, but the planet itself.”
Expectations for solid financial results
This year’s talks come as countries must submit new and possibly stronger targets by early next year to curb heat-trapping gas emissions from the combustion of coal, oil and natural gas. Fiscal policy is important.
How much money is on the table could indicate how ambitious some countries are with their climate change plans.
Some Pacific climate researchers said the amount of funding on offer was not the biggest issue for small island states, which are most at risk from sea level rise in the world.
“The funding may be there, but there are significant obstacles for us here in the Pacific to access this funding,” said Hilda Sakiti Waka of the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. “The Pacific region really needs a lot of technical assistance to put these applications together.”
Despite the slow start, there was still an atmosphere of optimism.
“My experience now is that countries are really here to negotiate,” said Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s special envoy for climate change.
“We cannot leave Baku without substantial results,” Stiel said. “Now is the time to show that global cooperation is not a priority. It is on the rise to date.”
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Associated Press writer Charlotte Graham-McRae in Wellington, New Zealand contributed.
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