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This year will likely be the hottest on record. That news came today as the United Nations Conference on Climate Change got started in Baku, Azerbaijan. But a big topic at this year's meeting is the U.S. election results and how a second Trump administration could hinder global climate efforts. NPR's Jeff Brady reports.
JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: This U.N. climate meeting started like most others.
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MUKHTAR BABAYEV: Welcome to Azerbaijan. Welcome to COP29.
BRADY: This is the 29th Conference of Parties, called COP29. Conference president Mukhtar Babayev encouraged cooperation because, he said, climate change is here.
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BABAYEV: From flooded homes in Spain to forest fires in Australia, from rising oceans in the Pacific to barren plains in East Africa, whether you see them or not, people are suffering in the shadows.
BRADY: To avoid even worse catastrophes in the future, countries agreed in 2015 to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. The U.S. and other wealthy countries agreed to reduce emissions the fastest and help compensate developing nations, which did little to contribute to the problem. But scientists say the world is off track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 Fahrenheit. Now President-elect Trump, who called climate change a hoax, vows to once again exit what's known as the Paris Agreement. In Baku today, President Biden's top climate advisor, John Podesta, tried to be optimistic.
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JOHN PODESTA: Are we facing new headwinds? Absolutely. But will we revert back to the energy system of the 1950s? No way.
BRADY: Podesta says the U.S. energy transition is underway, with tens of billions of dollars already allocated, much of it in Republican congressional districts. But that's just here in the U.S. This meeting in Azerbaijan was dubbed the finance COP because the goal is to get rich nations to fulfill their obligations to developing countries. Negotiators worry that any deal the U.S. agrees to now might not be valid after Trump takes office in January. There's talk of other countries taking on larger roles. The European Union and China are most often mentioned. Still, that doesn't mean the U.S. can escape responsibilities, says Mohamed Adow with the climate group Power Shift Africa.
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MOHAMED ADOW: Ultimately, no one can run from the climate crisis, not even Donald Trump. You know, the whole world is facing extreme weather events. Economies and livelihoods are being wrecked.
BRADY: Economies and livelihoods are being wrecked, Adow says, and there's little time to waste. COP29 will last for at least two weeks in Baku, and participants say despite the U.S. election overshadowing these negotiations, they're still optimistic for a positive outcome. Jeff Brady, NPR News.
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