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Rabat – The 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) has officially opened in Baku, Azerbaijan, with over 100 heads of state and government in attendance.
However, the absence of leaders from some of the world’s largest polluting countries has cast a shadow over the event, which aims to address the urgent issue of global climate change and the financial needs of vulnerable nations.
Azerbaijan, an oil and gas powerhouse, is hosting the conference as concerns over climate action continue to grow.
The summit is expected to focus on securing financial commitments from developed countries to support the world’s poorest nations, which are on the front lines of climate impacts.
Yet, despite the high stakes, key global leaders are notably absent. U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Russian President Vladimir Putin are all missing from the conference.
Instead, the United States will be represented by John Podesta, Biden’s senior advisor on international climate policy, while other global leaders, such as France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz, have also chosen not to attend.
Read also: Africa Faces a Disproportionate Burden of Climate Change, Adaptation Costs
This absence of leadership from some of the largest greenhouse gas emitters raises questions about the commitment of major polluting countries to the global climate agenda.
The US has already faced criticism for its previous withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under former President Donald Trump, and there is growing concern that, with Trump re-election, the US could once again distance itself from international climate agreements.
With the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide absent from key negotiations, the responsibility for driving progress on global climate action now falls heavily on other countries.
Despite these absences, COP29 has attracted over 32,000 registered participants, a number slightly higher than the 2015 conference but significantly fewer than the 85,000 who attended COP28 in Dubai.
The discussions in Baku will revolve around securing increased climate financing to support developing countries in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Developing nations, especially those in Africa, Asia, and small island states, are seeking billions of dollars in climate aid to address rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other climate-related disasters.
