By William James
BAKU (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders at the COP29 summit on Tuesday to “pay” to avoid climate-driven humanitarian disasters, saying time was running out. to limit a destructive rise in global temperatures.
Nearly 200 nations have gathered at the annual UN climate summit in Baku, focused this year on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to finance a global transition to cleaner energy sources and limit climate damage caused by climate change. carbon emissions.
But on the day of the summit designed to bring together world leaders and build political momentum for the marathon negotiations, many of the key players were not present to hear Guterres’ message.
Following the victory of climate change denier Donald Trump in the US presidential election, President Joe Biden will not attend. Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a deputy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will not attend due to political developments in Brussels.
“On climate finance, the world must pay, or humanity will pay the price,” Guterres said in a speech. “The sound you hear is the ticking of the clock. We are in the final countdown to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and time is not on our side.”
This year will be the hottest ever recorded.
Scientists say evidence shows global warming and its impacts are developing faster than expected and the world may have already reached 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) of warming above average temperatures. pre-industrial, a critical threshold beyond which you risk irreversible disaster and extreme climate change.
As COP29 began, unusual wildfires on the US East Coast continued to grow, triggering air quality warnings in New York. In Spain, survivors are taking on the worst flooding in the country’s modern history and the Spanish government has announced billions of euros for reconstruction.
‘KILLER OF THE ECONOMY’
The summit began Monday with a technical agreement seen as critical to launching a U.N.-backed global carbon market that would finance billions of dollars in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
That success was marred by a dispute over summit priorities: a procedural tug-of-war that pitted European and small island countries against the Arab group of nations over how prominent the future of fossil fuels should be in the agenda.
The opening procedures were delayed by at least five hours, ending in an eventual compromise reluctantly accepted by the EU and other aligned nations.
At a news conference on Tuesday, COP29 officials sought to refocus attention on the summit’s main goal: reaching a deal on up to $1 trillion in annual climate finance for developing countries.
“Allowing every country to take strong climate action is 100% in the interest of all countries, even the largest and richest. Why? Because the climate crisis is quickly becoming a lethal factor for the economy,” Simon said Stiell, head of the UNFCCC climate body facilitating the summit.
“Unless all countries can deeply reduce emissions, every country and every household will be affected even more than today. We will live in a permanent inflationary nightmare.”