SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The annual United Nations climate meeting called COP29 is about at its halfway point in Baku, Azerbaijan. Negotiators are working out details for how wealthy countries will help developing nations in a warming world. Jeff Brady from NPR's climate desk joins us. Jeff, thanks for being with us.
JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: What have negotiators accomplished so far this week?
BRADY: You know, from outside, it doesn't look like much. There's a lot of technical work going on behind the scenes right now to get to a financial agreement in the next week. But some of the most compelling moments have been speeches from leaders of developing nations. Here's the Bahamas prime minister, Philip Davis, reminding that global warming is everyone's problem.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER PHILIP DAVIS: The fires that devour your forests, the hurricanes that shatter our homes are not distant misfortunes but shared tragedies. What we endure, you endure. What we lose, you lose. And if we fail to act, it will be our children and grandchildren who bear the burden.
BRADY: And that underscores the goal of these negotiations, which is getting wealthier countries to commit many billions of dollars to help developing nations. These are countries like the Bahamas that did little to cause global warming - you know, burning fossil fuels - but they're suffering the consequences.
SIMON: Countries signed the Paris Climate Agreement almost a decade ago that aims to limit how warm the planet will get. How's the world doing so far?
BRADY: The Paris goal is to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius - that's 2.7 Fahrenheit - over preindustrial temperatures, and scientists tell us that's what's needed to avoid some really bad climate effects. We're already experiencing some of them - more severe storms, you know, flooding, extreme heat. Wealthy countries agreed to cut greenhouse gases first, but the world is not on track to meet that Paris Agreement goal and will likely push past that goal. The U.S., for example, is supposed to cut climate pollution in half by 2030. We're on track for about 40% now. But, you know, scientists say every little bit of warming we avoid will make a big difference in the future.
SIMON: Jeff, do countries face any penalties if they don't meet those commitments? And if not, what are these COP meetings trying to do?
BRADY: There aren't penalties. This process is more about countries agreeing to do things and then holding each other accountable. For example, at last year's U.N. climate meeting in Dubai, countries pledged to triple renewable energy by the end of this decade. This year, the International Renewable Energy Agency came back with a report showing countries are not on track to meet that pledge. So now there's pressure for countries to step up construction of things like wind power and hydropower and geothermal energy.
SIMON: And, of course, America has just elected a president - now president-elect - who's called climate change a hoax. Donald Trump says he'll pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement again. How does that affect the talks in Baku?
BRADY: You know, it's part of the discussion, but not as big a topic as I expected. One reason is that it takes a year to withdraw from that agreement. So the U.S. is expected to be back at COP in Brazil next year. There's talk about who will step up, you know, to fill the U.S. leadership gap in the meantime - maybe China, maybe the European Union. But there are some unknowns here. The CEO of Exxon Mobil, he recently asked Trump not to pull out of the Paris Agreement. He says business needs certainty, and we're going to see what President Trump - President-elect Trump decides there. Meantime, at the U.N. climate meeting, there's still some optimism. There'll be some sort of finance agreement announced in the next week or so.
SIMON: Jeff Brady from NPR's climate desk. Thanks so much for being with us.
BRADY: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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