From the moment election returns began rolling in in the US, climate leaders knew Donald Trump would be a body blow to the COP29 talks in Baku. What they did not envision was that the demolition job from within would be carried out by Azerbaijan’s own leader.
In what should be one of the most urgent meetings of the year — aimed at slowing a global crisis fast spiraling out of control — the talks have descended into a circus of boycotts, political tirades and fossil fuels celebrations. Its host, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, has been its spectacular ringmaster.
Amid the chaos, climate leaders gathered at the top level of the world’s global climate forum have issued an open letter calling for a “fundamental overhaul” of the entire UN climate process. Issued first saying the annual talks, known as Conferences of the Parties, or COPs, are “no longer fit for purpose,” that language was quickly removed.
A spokesperson for the co-president of The Club of Rome, which published the letter, told CNN that the edit was made because the authors’ “constructive criticism” had been seized upon by some parties to further their own interests at the talks, though she wouldn’t say which party precisely.
But the edit doesn’t change the idea that the talks are, indeed, losing their sense of credibility.
“But there are also 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists walking the halls with us here,” she added, “and they’re also not guardians of the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
This is the third year in succession that climate talks are being hosted in a petrostate, or economy that relies heavily on oil and gas. The last two were held in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. All three have been criticized for alleged human rights abuses in the lead-up to their events.
Some of the recommendations of the open letter include “the introduction of strict eligibility criteria to exclude countries who do not support the phase out/transition away from fossil energy” from holding COP presidencies.
Year in year out, the annual conferences have progressively included fossil fuel interests. This year, more than 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists or industry players had been registered to attend the talks, said an analysis by a coalition of groups called Kick Big Polluters Out.
This is a huge problem, said Alex Scott, a senior associate in climate diplomacy at the Italy-based think tank ECCO.
“Don’t sound like a guardian of the Paris Agreement. There’s still a week left for this presidency to show they are fulfilling that role,” she said to CNN from Baku. The 2015 Paris Agreement unites most of the world’s countries in a common goal: limiting global warming.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
delivers his opening remarks on November 12 at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, in which he described oil and gas as a “gift of the god.
tzimnieqqgweugoyflhxmutvuxfivr