E&E News, a Politico-affiliated publication specializing in energy and environmental issues, reports that in Azerbaijan’s capital, these diplomats are striving to advance President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, even as his term is set to end in just two months. Simultaneously, they are acutely aware that Donald Trump could soon dismantle these efforts.
The newly elected president has already threatened to roll back domestic climate investments and withdraw from the Paris Agreement—a global accord requiring nations to limit global warming.
This casts doubt on the feasibility of key agenda items being negotiated by U.S. representatives at COP29, such as providing hundreds of billions of dollars in global climate aid, regulating the international carbon market, and reaffirming commitments to phase out fossil fuels. These goals are unlikely to be pursued by the United States in the next four years.
The COP29 summit has drawn hundreds of representatives from various U.S. government agencies. While some have already returned to the U.S., other delegates have arrived in Baku to continue negotiations.
One of COP29’s primary objectives is to determine the volume of financial aid developed countries will provide in the form of loans and grants to nations in the “Global South” to combat climate change and transition to alternative energy sources. However, delegations have yet to reach an agreement on this critical issue.
