my colleague Damien Carrington There's more from today's Cop29 summit, with news that one of the few G7 world leaders who attended missed out on a speaking slot.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni missed out on a spot at the Cop29 summit. Meloni and Britain's Keir Starmer were the only G7 leaders in attendance.
Meanwhile, Kuwait's Crown Prince Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has pledged to reduce the country's carbon emissions by 80% by 2040. While this is very impressive, it is highly unlikely to include the country's significant oil and gas production.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who represents the Vatican, has focused on providing trillions of dollars in funding to developing countries, a key issue in Baku. He said these countries should not take on more debt for climate financing, saying: “Ecological debt and environmental debt are two sides of the same coin.”
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala is essentially promoting his country's nuclear industry. “We strongly believe that nuclear power is necessary to achieve sustainability goals.” I am prepared to do so.” Nuclear power is “clean and very safe,” he says. Critics argue that it is much more expensive than renewable energy and takes much longer to construct.
Damien Carrington
The first national leader to speak at Cop29 on Wednesday was Iranian Vice President Sina Ansari Hamedani, whose speech deftly combined climate policy and geopolitics. Her key point was that “illegal and unilateral” international sanctions against Iran are preventing Iran from accessing funds to build a green economy. Among this she includes nuclear power, the development of which is the main reason for sanctions.
She also called the sanctions “unjust and unreasonable” and also condemned the war in Gaza, calling Israel a “Zionist occupation regime.” Her final point struck a more benign note, calling for global action: “Our shared environment is our common bond.”
Iran is highly dependent on oil for income and is highly vulnerable to climate impacts such as droughts and deadly wet heat waves.
As we wait for things to progress in Baku today, here's a useful refresher on all things cops from my colleague Fiona Harvey
Damien Carrington
Cop29 is in its third day here in Baku, and more world leaders are expected to take to the stage, including Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif. The aim is to nudge negotiators towards a strong agreement by highlighting the clear impacts of the climate crisis, and the 'terrible truth' brought forward by Spain's Pedro Sánchez and Maldives' Mohamed Muiz ” did just that.
Host Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev took a different stance, calling the country's oil and gas a “gift from God.”
But now, with the publication of this year's global carbon budget report, every country faces dire consequences for climate action. This means that emissions from fossil fuels, the overwhelming cause of global warming, will increase further in 2024, reaching an all-time high.
This is in stark contrast to the agreement reached at the previous summit, Cop28, on the “transition away from fossil fuels.'' The agreement was hailed as a breakthrough for the simple but surprising reason that previous summit agreements did not mention fossil fuels. It also stands in stark contrast to the reality that emissions must be cut by 43% by 2030 to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C and limit climate destruction.
“The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly dramatic, but there is still no sign that fossil fuel combustion has reached its peak,” said Professor Pierre Friedlingstein from the University of Exeter, who led the report. .
So negotiators are putting their work on hold to ensure the next national climate pledge, due by February, brings about gradual change. On Tuesday, the UK announced a strong commitment to cut emissions by 81% by 2035, a move widely welcomed in Baku.
Wednesday will also see events supported by the Cop29 Presidency to advance efforts to triple nuclear energy and address the challenges of small island developing States, which are literally at risk of extinction due to rising sea levels. It's planned.
