COP29 begins in the hottest year ever. “We are on our way to ruin”

In Azerbaijan, international leaders are asking for more money to combat climate change, in a “city that smells of oil” and in a year in which the Paris Agreement target is exceeded.

Baku, in Azerbaijan, is “a huge gas station. The smell was almost overwhelming”, says the reporter from , who is present at COP29, which had its opening ceremony today.

Oil and gas account for more than 90% of Azerbaijan’s exportsand the country also has defects in several other areas, particularly with regard to freedom of expression (there is no right to protest, for example), as shown by .

But Baku was the city chosen for the biggest climate event of the year, which will run until the 22nd of this month: “the COP presidency revolves around five regions and this year it was Eastern Europe’s turn”, explains the BBC.

We are on the way to ruin”, stated the new president of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev. “Whether we see them or not, people are suffering in the shadows. They are dying in the darkness. And they need more than compassion. More than prayers and paperwork. They are crying out for leadership and action. COP29 is the unmissable moment to chart a new path for everyone”cite to .

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said this morning that 2024 is set to become the hottest year on record — the global average temperature between January and September was about 1.54ºC higher than that recorded at the end of the 19th century.

The Paris Agreement, established by almost 200 countries in 2015, at COP21, provided for the implementation of a series of measures that would keep the global average temperature well below 2ºC and, preferably, 1.5ºC. Now, it is guaranteed that 2024 is the year in which this limit will be exceeded.

According to a report by the European Environment Agency, Europe is the continent where this warming has increased the fastest.

According to the Lusa agency, head of the UN for Climate, Simon Stiell, assured that climate aid funding by rich countries is not “charity” and it is “in everyone’s interest”.

COP29 focuses on negotiations on the “new collective quantified target” (NCQG) of financing for climate action.

The aim of this measure is to establish a new value for North-South financial aid for the fight and adaptation to climate change. Last year in the United Arab Emirates, countries agreed to a transition to abandon fossil fuels in energy systems and tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Absences felt, some resented

Several international personalities will not be present at the COP this year — starting with President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

According to , von der Leyen will “focus on her institutional duties as the Commission is in a transition phase”.

The EU will be represented this year by the President of the European Council, Charles Michelby the person responsible for climate policy, Wopke Hoekstraand by the Energy Commissioner, Kadri Samson.

Also Emmanuel Macron will be absentjustifying the refusal to participate in the climate discussion by choosing Baku as the city to hold the event. Paris last year condemned Azerbaijan’s military offensive against Armenian separatists, and relations between the two countries have been troubled ever since.

According to the BBC, the COP was initially conceived in Bulgaria, but Russia blocked this decision.

The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholzalso announced that it will not go to COP29, and several international leaders join the decision, such as Vladimir Putin, Justin Trudeauthe Canadian Prime Minister or Chinese President, Xi Jinping.

Also Greta Thunberg criticized the location chosen for the “peace” COP, one of the themes chosen for the event, accusing the country of greenwashing: “Azerbaijan are you planning to do a greenwashing of his crimes against the Armeniansbuilding a “Green Energy Zone” in territories where the population has been ethnically cleansed”, in The Guardian.