November 11 2024
By Minseo Kim
COP29 started in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The COP is a gathering of countries from around the world to discuss how to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. The conference this year will focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation and how to finance the necessary funding.
Already under fire for Azerbaijan's state oil company signing $8 billion worth of contracts even before the climate talks are decided, COP29 is also notable for taking place after the election of former US President Donald Trump, who claims the climate crisis is a hoax. Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement in his first year in office in 2017, so there's a sense that he'll do the same after his presidency.
This, connected with concerns that other industrialized nations will be less willing to commit to the conference, and the re-election of COP leadership, has led to a growing consensus that the conference will not go well.