Trump win, 1.5 C warming breach weigh on UN COP climate finance talks
By Sera Sefeti, This article was originally published in Benar News, 10 Nov 2024
Baku, Azerbaijan
Pacific delegates fear the implications of a Trump presidency and breach of the 1.5 degree Celsius warming target will overshadow negotiations on climate finance at the U.N.’s annual COP talks starting in Azerbaijan this week.
At the COP29 summit – dubbed the “finance COP” – Pacific nations will seek not just more monetary commitment from high-emitting nations but also for the funds to be paid and distributed to those countries facing the worst climate impacts.
With the U.S. as one of the world’s largest emitters, it is feared Trump’s past withdrawal from the Paris Agreement could foreshadow diminished American involvement in climate commitments.
“We have our work cut-out for us. We are wary that we have the Trump administration coming through and may not be favorable to some of the climate funding that America has proposed,” Samoan academic and COP veteran Salā George Carter told BenarNews.
“We will continue to look for other ways to work with the U.S., if not with the government then maybe with businesses.”
This year, for the first time, a COP President’s Scientific Council has been formed to be actively involved in the negotiations. Carter is the sole Pacific representative.
Past COP funding promises of U.S.$100 billion annually from developed countries to support vulnerable nations “has never been achieved in any of the years,” he said.
Pacific nations contribute minimally to global emissions but often bear a disproportionate burden of climate change impacts.
Pacific Island Climate Action Network regional director Rufino Varea argues wealthier nations have a responsibility to support adaptation efforts in these vulnerable regions.
“The Pacific advocates for increased climate finance from wealthier nations, utilizing innovative mechanisms like fossil fuel levies to support adaptation, loss and damage, and a just transition for vulnerable communities,” Varea told BenarNews.
COP29 is being held in the capital of Azerbaijan, the port city of Baku on the oil and gas rich Caspian Sea, once an important waypoint on the ancient Silk Road connecting China to Europe.
The country bordering Russia, Iran, Georgia and Armenia is now one of the world’s most fossil fuel export dependent economies.
About 40,000 delegates will attend COP29 from all the U.N. member states including political leaders, diplomats, scientists, officials, civil society organizations, journalists, activists, Indigenous groups and many more.
All nations are party to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and most signed up to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the 1.5 degree target.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa in a statement on Monday said “the priorities of the Pacific Islands countries, include keeping the 1.5 degree goal alive.”
“The outcomes of COP 29 must deliver on what is non-negotiable - our survival,” he said.