The COP29 climate change summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, saw President-elect Donald Trump return to the White House and deliver a stern lecture to rich countries to stop thinking about climate finance to developing countries. Nevertheless, it opened Monday with a declaration that climate alarmism remains in vogue. The state as a “charity”.
UN Climate Change Chief Simon Steel: “Now is the time to show global cooperation is not being taken lightly.'' said Jet-flying COP29 attendees burned staggering amounts of fossil fuel for the meeting in oil-rich Azerbaijan.
Steele was referring to concerns among climate believers that President Trump will again withdraw the United States from the non-binding 2015 Paris climate accord, as he did during his first term. president joe biden recommitted On his first day in office in February 2021, the United States agreed to the Paris Agreement.
politiko on sunday Saw President Trump casts a long shadow over COP29, as he could “act sooner and with less restraint” to withdraw from the Paris climate accord after winning a landslide victory in the 2024 election.
“Without the United States joining this agreement, other countries will be forced to further reduce climate pollution. There will also be inevitable questions from some countries as to whether efforts should be made. politiko I was irritated.
Somehow, the climate movement has no problem with global climate change. maximum China, a greenhouse gas polluter, has done little except pay lip service to climate change conferences and make money off other countries' purchases of solar panels and electric car batteries, but this market is completely cornered by China.
China announced India, a growing industrial powerhouse, has similarly ignored its carbon emissions reduction “commitments”, although it announced last year that it would exceed Paris Agreement emissions targets by more than 110 percent by 2030.
China, India, and Russia are all founding members of BRICS, a rapidly expanding economic bloc. openly I declare Member states will not make any sacrifices for climate change because they see it as purely the responsibility of the United States and Europe.
Whatever President Trump does next year, the shadow cast over COP29 as a whole will be much longer, and there will be a growing recognition among developed countries that the goals of the Paris Agreement were always crazy. No country can afford to deal with them without destroying its industries, destroying the living standards of its people, and spending trillions of dollars that no country actually has in the bank.
“Countries are very committed to Paris, and I don't think there's any question about that. What I think is at stake is whether the world can deliver on what it promised in Paris. ,” said David Waskow, director of climate change at the World Resources Institute. politiko.
Other climate experts say withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would allow China to “continue to beat the United States in solar panels, electric vehicles, and other green technologies,” and urged President Trump to remain in the agreement. I tried to persuade him.
This is because China already After four years of a pro-Paris Biden administration, we have won against a competitive America. If environmentalists stand by and allow other countries to drill for rare earth minerals with an enthusiasm that rivals China's, China's stubborn grip on green energy elements may loosen someday, but that day may not be immediate. Probably not.
China has enough power to crowd out competitors in the rare earths market. crowding supply And because of crater prices, a very expensive mining startup looks like a bad risk.
China generate It produces about 80% of the world's solar panels and about two-thirds of the world's electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, and EV batteries. The United States produces about 2% of the world's solar panels. There is virtually no competitive advantage lost by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, as even the biggest proponents of green energy have not seriously argued that the United States could take these markets away from China. be.
Mr Steele told the COP29 audience that rich countries should stop thinking of climate finance to the Third World as “charity”. He might consider talking to all the activists. bubbling Regarding “climate compensation” as a new trend of world socialism.
“Ambitious new climate finance targets are in the complete self-interest of all nations, including the largest and wealthiest ones,” Stier declared.
“Ambitious” is a mild word to describe what COP29 has in mind. of goal The $100 billion a year in funding for rich countries to fight climate change in developing countries since 2009 expires next year, and the climate movement has plans to replace it. Trillion Annual expenditure amount. They also want the money to be paid out as a “grant” rather than a “loan” that may one day be worth repaying.
of president At the COP29 meeting, Mukhtar Babayev, a former executive of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, said that demands for trillions of dollars may be unrealistic, so the Third World will not be able to absorb climate change from the First World. He admitted he may have to settle for just “hundreds of billions” of funding. world.
The Baku conference will make these demands more appealing to cautious Western managers and exploited governments, for example by pitching climate finance as a profitable investment in green industries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. There will be a discussion on how to make it appear more acceptable.
The Associated Press reluctantly noticed Political activists are appearing at the venue wearing Palestinian clothes and trying to take over COP29. keffiyeh They wave scarves and flags demanding both “climate justice” and an end to “inciting genocide” against Palestinians.
“It is the same systems of oppression and discrimination that are putting people on the front lines of climate change and pushing people to the front lines of conflict in Palestine,” said Lise Masson, a protester with Friends of the Earth International. declared. Decreasing spending and military aid to Israel by the United States and Europe.
