Here are some photos of Azerbaijan's capital Baku set in full summit mode.
Ajit Niranjan
What is COP29 in Azerbaijan and is it important?
The 29th United Nations Climate Conference has begun, with diplomats descending on Baku, Azerbaijan, to hammer home the debate over global warming pollutants and the funding needed to combat them.
Like the previous 28 Conferences of the Parties, Cop29 is not expected to stop climate change, but participants insist that is no reason to ignore it as hot air. There is. Police are an important diplomatic arena where poor countries, which contribute little to global warming, can put pressure on rich countries that make the world dependent on fossil fuels. As a result, rich countries with the resources to transition quickly can encourage poorer countries to clean up faster.
What will be the outcome of COP29?
This year's conference will focus on efforts to raise the funds needed to reduce pollution and adapt to more severe weather. Rich countries have missed their goal of providing $100 billion a year in climate finance to poorer countries starting in 2020, a target set in the previous police, which experts say is weak and patchy. It was assumed that there was. Poor countries are currently asking for $1 trillion a year in contributions by 2030, including cash to repair the damage caused by extreme weather events, but rich countries are reluctant to raise further unless more people contribute. Be passive.
If diplomats reach a significant funding deal this month, it will build confidence and inspire greater ambition as countries submit much-needed action plans to cut pollution at Cop30 in Brazil next year. There is a possibility.
Will COP29 be a success?
More than 32,000 attendees have registered for the conference, but observers do not expect them to bring about transformative change. Several prominent world leaders will be absent from the summit, including the EU's Ursula von der Leyen, the US' Joe Biden, China's Xi Jinping, and Germany's Olaf Scholz, who will send representatives in their place. I am doing it. The United States just elected Donald Trump as president, and the last time he was in the White House, he pulled the country out of the Paris Climate Accord. Papua New Guinea has removed all its ministers from this year's Cup in protest at rich countries not fulfilling their promises.
And with high-level geopolitics, observers are also questioning whether host countries are leading their overworked diplomats on a mission to find common ground. Azerbaijan is a middle-income Central Asian country rich in oil but poor in water and poised to bridge the gap between different interest groups. But secret recordings last week appeared to show Cop29's CEO agreeing to facilitate fossil fuel deals.
It is hoped that this conference will truly unite countries and continue to drive progress in reducing global carbon emissions.
Good morning, this is Damien Gayle. Cop29 online guide.
The 29th Conference of the Parties begins this morning in Baku, Azerbaijan. Like every year, the Guardian Environment Desk ends up blogging all the coughs and spit from the thousands of visiting delegates, campaigners, lobbyists and others. The climate speaks.
Our team of reporters has already visited Baku, and I will be anchoring the coverage from London, weaving in their contributions while scanning social media and Telegraph newsfeeds to make this as complete as possible in one person and blog. We plan to achieve coverage close to .
If you have comments or suggestions for things we could cover or news to share, please feel free to email us. My address is damien.gayle@theguardian.com.
