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By Eurasianet – Nov 18, 2024, 3:00 PM CST
- COP29 in Baku is marred by disagreements over climate financing, sidelining of key issues, and political tensions.
- The absence of many global leaders and the controversial remarks of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have further hampered progress.
- Climate activists and experts are calling for significant reforms to the COP system to address the urgency of the climate crisis.
Hopes at COP29 in Baku for a breakthrough on climate financing are fading fast, fueling frustration that the United Nations’ framework for addressing global warming is dysfunctional.
Non-governmental organization participants are complaining about being sidelined, while governmental representatives are perceived to be dithering. Some insiders report that haggling over funding is preoccupying governmental participants, preventing them from addressing other key issues. Meanwhile, COP29’s one seeming achievement, a breakthrough on the establishment of a carbon credit system, is coming under criticism from some attendees as little more than “smoke and mirrors.”
“Financial discussions have stalled progress on almost every other topic, so not much is actually happening,” one participant at COP29 said.
The fact that many global leaders, including top US officials, EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, opted to skip the Baku gathering, means that discussions on financing lack a galvanizing force, participants report. The realization that global-warming denier Donald Trump will soon regain the reins of government in the United States also has had a chilling effect on the conference.
Elsewhere, climate activists are complaining about the lack of space to stage activities highlighting specific climate challenges. Azerbaijani authorities have imposed comprehensive restrictions on outdoor gatherings. “There’s barely any space for meaningful actions at this COP,” one regular attendee of the annual gathering said.
Climate activists attending the Baku gathering get the impression that nations are scaling back their commitments to tackling warming-related issues. For example, Brazil, which will host next year’s COP gathering, received a mixed response to its updated Nationally Determined Contribution climate plan, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 59 percent to 67 percent by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, even though the new proposed target represents an improvement over its previously stated goal of a 53.1 percent reduction by 2030.
In the run-up to COP29, the event’s host, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev, hoped it would burnish his country’s (and by extension, his administration’s) image. Instead, observers have characterized COP29 as a circus, condemning Aliyev’s stewardship of the proceedings.
“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,