World leaders meet for climate talks

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AFP) — Dozens of world leaders convene in Azerbaijan on Tuesday for COP29 but many big names are skipping the United Nations climate talks where the impact of United States President-elect Donald Trump’s poll victory is keenly felt.

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.

Just a handful of leaders from the G20 -- which accounts for nearly 80 percent of planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions -- are expected in Baku, including United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The British leader will unveil an “ambitious” update to the UK’s climate goals later today, and said he wanted his country “to show leadership on the climate challenge.”

US President Joe Biden, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron are among G20 leaders missing the event, where uncertainty over future US unity on climate action hung over the opening day.

“It’s not an ideal situation,” acknowledged Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s environment minister.

“But in 30 years of COP, it’s not the first time that we’ve faced obstacles,” he told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Certainly, everything is still possible.”

Washington’s top climate envoy John Podesta is seeking to reassure countries in Baku that Trump’s re-election will not end US efforts on global warming, even if the issue will be “on the back burner.”

But despite calls for global cooperation, 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.

“This will be a tough COP,” said Fernanda Carvalho, global climate and energy policy lead at World Wildlife Fund.

“Countries are divided. There is a lack of trust,” she told AFP, and divisions over climate finance “will be reflected in every room of those negotiations.”