By AFP - Agence France Presse
Azerbaijan defends fossil fuels at COP29, and big names don't attend Summit.
By Nick Perry and Sara Hussein
The host of the UN climate summit in Azerbaijan on Tuesday defended fossil fuels and the right of countries to exploit them as dozens of world leaders arrived for the COP29 conference.
More than 75 leaders are expected, but the heads of many of the main polluting nations are skipping the climate talks, where the impact of Donald Trump's election victory is being digested.
Only a handful of leaders from the G20 nations - which account for almost 80% of the world's global warming emissions - are expected over two days in Baku.
In the host's opening speech, President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan was the target of “slander and blackmail” for its use of fossil fuels and that no country should be judged by its natural resources.
“Quote me saying that this is a gift from God, and I want to repeat that today here in this audience,” Aliyev told the delegates.
“Oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver, copper, everything... these are natural resources, and countries should not be blamed for possessing them and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market because the market needs them.”
The remarks were criticized by environmental groups.
“Countries are not to blame for their natural resources, but they are responsible for the threat they pose to humanity by extracting them from the ground and causing climate impacts,” said Alex Rafalowicz, executive director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron, and Olaf Scholz were among the G20 leaders who did not attend the event, where uncertainty over future US climate action overshadowed proceedings.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, one of the most important leaders present, announced that Britain aims to reduce its emissions by 81% compared to 1990 levels by 2035.
The updated climate targets are intended to show “British leadership in the climate challenge,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Washington delegation sought to reassure partners that US efforts on global warming would not end with Trump, who has vowed to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement.
US climate adviser Ali Zaidi said the country was now on a “secular and sustained trajectory in our emissions,” and Washington was “very focused on achieving a good outcome” at COP29.
The main priority of the meeting is to reach a much-disputed agreement to increase funding for climate action in developing countries.
These nations - from low-lying islands to war-fractured states - are the least responsible for climate change but the most at risk from rising seas, extreme weather, and economic shocks.
Some are pushing for the existing pledge of $100 billion a year to be increased tenfold at COP29 to cover the future cost of their nations' shift to clean energy and adaptation to climate shocks.
Adonia Ayebare, Ugandan president of a bloc that brings together more than 100 mostly developing countries and China, said they had already rejected a draft agreement presented in Baku.
“We cannot accept it and have asked them to produce a new text,” he told AFP.
Nations have been discussing the issue for years, with disagreements over how much should be paid and who should pay.
Developing countries warn that without adequate funding, they will struggle to deliver ambitious updates to their climate targets, which countries must submit by early next year.
Leaders from climate-vulnerable countries, including the Maldives, warned: “We need COP funding to deliver.”
“We see that funds flow freely to wage war but are scrutinized when it comes to climate adaptation,” said Mohamed Muizzu, president of the archipelago.
The small group of developed countries that currently contribute the money wants the group of donors to be expanded to include other rich nations and major emitters, including China and the Gulf countries, something firmly rejected by Beijing.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that developing nations “must not leave Baku empty-handed.”
“An agreement is a must,” he said.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell tried to convince rich countries that climate finance is not charity but a down payment for a safer and richer planet.
“The climate crisis is fast becoming an economic killer,” he warned.
“Climate action is insurance against global inflation.”
He also sought to reassure the negotiations that recent “political events” would not undermine global climate diplomacy.
“Our process is strong. It is robust, and it will endure.”
Around 50,000 people are attending the summit in Azerbaijan, an oil state wedged between Russia and Iran, including the leaders of many African, Asian, and Latin American countries plagued by climate disasters.
np-sah/giv
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