New York [US], November 16: This year's U.N. climate summit is struggling to focus minds on the health of the planet, with turbulent geopolitics, a confrontational host and the reelection of U.S. climate skeptic Donald Trump stealing the limelight.
The annual conference that aims to produce global agreements to limit the warming which is tipping the world towards climate catastrophe is becoming a forum of frustration for negotiators seeking a finance deal in the Caspian Sea city of Baku.
Oil producer Azerbaijan, the host of this year's 29th Conference of the Parties, is tasked with the limited goal of rallying countries around a target for annual financial aid for developing nations facing the rising costs of climate change.
It is a mandate that pales in comparison with the agenda for next year's confab in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, where governments will chart a course for the next decade.
But it is considered all-important for many countries ahead of Brazil's COP30 and achieving it requires diplomatic skill.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev berated the United States and the European Union as climate hypocrites at the summit's opening, souring the mood for countries central to the finance goal.
He later branded France guilty of colonial "crimes", after which France's climate minister canceled her trip to the venue.
On Friday, midway through the two-week summit, a group of former leaders, climate experts and scientists published an open letter calling for the COP process to be reformed, saying it "cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity."
The COP29 presidency's lead negotiator acknowledged that the multilateral process was under pressure in Baku.
The summit began on Monday with a dispute about the agenda, but the host nation did manage to get a deal done to endorse a global carbon market framework.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
