Azerbaijan Urgent climate targets: Conference launched in Baku
The World Climate Conference in Baku has begun with the aim of securing new financial commitments for developing countries and limiting global warming.
11.11.2024, 09:36
SDA
The United Nations Climate Change Conference has begun in Azerbaijan, where UN climate chief Simon Stiell emphasized the urgency of the negotiations. "We cannot leave Baku without a reasonable outcome," he warned at the start of the conference.
The focus of the two-week event in the authoritarian former Soviet republic is on the financial obligations of industrialized countries towards poorer states. Developing countries and environmental organizations are calling for at least one trillion US dollars to be made available annually - ten times the 100 billion currently pledged.
Stiell made it clear that climate financing should not be seen as a handout. "An ambitious new climate finance target is entirely in the self-interest of every nation, even the largest and richest," he explained.
Almost 200 countries are gathered in Azerbaijan to discuss measures to curb global warming and mitigate its devastating effects. Stiell emphasized that the negotiations may sometimes seem far removed from the concrete victims of the climate crisis, but the process is crucial. "Without it, humanity would be heading towards five degrees of global warming."
According to United Nations calculations, the world is currently heading towards a warming of 2.6 to 3.1 degrees compared to pre-industrial times, which could make large parts of the world uninhabitable. The agreed goal is to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
This year, the planet has warmed by more than 1.5 degrees for the first time. However, the 1.5 degree target is not yet considered to have been missed, as long-term average values are decisive.
Controversy over the conference president
The Azerbaijani Environment Minister Mukhtar Babayev was elected president of the conference, which caused some irritation as he had previously worked for the state oil company Socar for over 20 years. Babayev promised to pursue ambitious resolutions and warned that the current climate policy was leading humanity "to ruin". "People are already suffering in the shadows and dying in the dark," he said.
