“The planet is on fire and humanity is exposed,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned ahead of a major UN climate change summit starting next week.
The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29), scheduled to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, hopes to make significant progress towards combating climate change and reducing carbon emissions.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) states:
Simply put, the COP aims to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, help vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, help achieve net global warming, etc. , where the world comes together to agree on action to address the climate crisis. -Zero emissions by 2050.
One of the conference's biggest goals is to raise more money from countries in the name of saving the planet. Guterres announced a lofty ambition for developed countries to double financial support for climate change initiatives such as wind turbines and solar power to $40 billion by next year.
The United States currently pays one-third of the UN's budget. “Climate finance is a great enabler,” said UNFCCC Executive Director Simon Stiel in a promotional video for COP29.
Future US involvement
President-elect Donald Trump's landslide election victory, which led the United States to withdraw from the United Nations Paris Agreement, raises many questions about the future of American involvement in combating global climate change.
Days before the election, Trump shared his thoughts on the current environmental agenda on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. He took particular aim at windmills, arguing that they were the most expensive and least effective form of energy. “An environmentalist's dream is to build windmills everywhere. You know what happens to them? After five years, they start to rot. After 10 years, you have to replace them.”
President Trump also doubled down on his promise to drill for oil and restore America's energy independence.
Joe Biden is not scheduled to attend, nor is his international climate policy adviser, John Podesta. Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy; Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi is also scheduled to attend.
COP29 is a story in progress. Alex Newman and Andrew Muller of “The New American'' will be reporting from Baku, so stay tuned. Interviews will begin on November 13th.
