More than 75 leaders are expected in Baku over two days but the heads of some of the most powerful and polluting economies are not attending this year’s summit
Updated – November 12, 2024 01:20 pm IST
A night view shows the venue of the United Nations climate change conference, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 11, 2024. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Dozens of world leaders convene in Azerbaijan on Tuesday (November 12, 2024) for COP29 but many big names are skipping the UN climate talks where the impact of Donald Trump’s election victory is keenly felt.
Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Emmanuel Macron are among the G20 leaders missing the event, where uncertainty over future U.S. unity on climate action hung over the opening day.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell also appealed to solidarity, kicking talks off on Monday by urging countries to “show that global cooperation is not down for the count”.
But the opening day got off to a rocky start, with feuds over the official agenda delaying by hours the start of formal proceedings in the stadium venue near the Caspian Sea. Later in the evening, governments approved new UN standards for a global carbon market in a key step toward allowing countries to trade credits to meet their climate targets.
Here are the latest updates from day 2:
November 12, 2024 12:52
COP29 day 1 highlights
UN Climate Change on Instagram: “Day 1 at #COP29 is a wrap! 🌍Over the next two weeks, delegates from 198 Parties will tackle critical climate issues at the world’s largest climate summit.Much is at stake.It’s time to stand and deliver.”
3,119 likes, 45 comments – unclimatechange on November 11, 2024: “Day 1 at #COP29 is a wrap! 🌍Over the next two weeks, delegates from 198 Parties will tackle critical climate issues at the world’s largest climate summit.Much is at stake.It’s time to stand and deliver.”.
November 12, 2024 12:50
Nations approve new UN rules on carbon markets at COP29
Governments at the COP29 talks approved Monday new UN standards for international carbon markets in a key step toward allowing countries to trade credits to meet their climate targets.
On the opening day of the UN climate talks in Azerbaijan, nearly 200 nations agreed a number of crucial ground rules for setting a market in motion after nearly a decade of complex discussions.
COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev hailed the “breakthrough” but said more work was needed.
Carbon credits are generated by activities that reduce or avoid planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions, like planting trees, protecting carbon sinks or replacing polluting coal with clean-energy alternatives.
One credit equals a tonne of prevented or removed heat-trapping carbon dioxide.
AFP
November 12, 2024 12:34
U.S. climate action won’t end with Trump, envoy tells COP29
Washington’s top climate envoy sought to reassure countries at the COP29 talks Monday that Donald Trump’s re-election would not end U.S. efforts to tackle global warming.
Mr. Trump’s sweep of the presidential vote has cast a long shadow over the crunch talks in Baku, with the incoming U.S. leader pledging to withdraw Washington from the landmark Paris climate agreement.
The vote has left the U.S. delegation somewhat hamstrung and stoked fears other countries could be less ambitious in a fractious debate on increasing climate funding for developing nations.
U.S. envoy John Podesta acknowledged the next U.S. administration would “try and take a U-turn” on climate action, but said that U.S. cities, States and individual citizens would pick up the slack.
AFP
November 12, 2024 12:06
Climate crisis worsening already ‘hellish’ refugee situation: UN
Climate change is contributing to record numbers of people being uprooted from their homes globally, while worsening the often already “hellish” conditions of displacement, the United Nations said Tuesday.
With international climate talks under way in Baku, the UN refugee agency highlighted how soaring global temperatures and extreme weather events are impacting displacement numbers and conditions, as it called for more and better investment in mitigating the risks.
In a fresh report, UNHCR pointed to how climate shocks in places like Sudan, Somalia and Myanmar were interacting with conflict to push those already in danger into even more dire situations.
AFP
November 12, 2024 11:35
Greta Thunberg protests against Azerbaijan hosting global climate summit
Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Monday attended a rally in Georgia to protest against Azerbaijan hosting the annual United Nations climate talks.
Ms. Thunberg and scores of other activists who rallied in Tbilisi, the capital of the South Caucasus nation, argued that Azerbaijan doesn’t deserve to host the climate talks because of its repressive policies.
Time to show global cooperation rising to this moment: UN Climate Change Executive Secretary at COP29 opening
United Nations Climate Secretary Simon Stiell, whose home island of Carriacou was devasted earlier this year by Hurricane Beryl, used the story of his neighbor, an 85-year-old named Florence, to help find “a way out of this mess.”
Her home was demolished and Florence focused one thing: “Being strong for her family and for her community. There are people like Florence in every country on Earth. Knocked down, and getting back up again.″
That’s what the world must do with climate change, Ms. Stiell said.
United Nations annual climate talks stuttered to a start Monday with more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda for the next two weeks.
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