Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres addressed the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 12, 2024, urging world leaders to "contribute financially" to avert climate-induced humanitarian crises. He emphasized that the window to curb a potentially catastrophic increase in global temperatures is rapidly closing.

Nearly 200 countries convened at the annual UN climate conference in Baku, with this year's focus on securing hundreds of billions of dollars to support a worldwide shift towards cleaner energy sources and mitigate the adverse effects of carbon emissions. However, on the summit's designated day for high-level political engagement, several key figures were notably absent.

Following Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, a climate change skeptic, President Joe Biden did not attend. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a deputy, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was also absent due to political developments in Brussels.

Guterres warned in his speech, "On climate finance, the world must contribute, or humanity will bear the consequences." He added, "The ticking clock is a reminder. We are in the last stretch to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and time is not on our side." This year is projected to be the warmest on record.

Scientists indicate that global warming and its effects are progressing more rapidly than anticipated, with the world possibly already surpassing the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold above pre-industrial levels—a critical point beyond which irreversible and extreme climate changes could occur.

As COP29 commenced, unusual wildfires on the U.S. east coast, prompting air quality warnings in New York, continued to escalate. In Spain, residents are grappling with the aftermath of the worst floods in modern history, leading the Spanish government to allocate billions of euros for reconstruction.

The summit kicked off with a technical agreement deemed crucial for establishing a UN-backed global carbon market, intended to finance billions of dollars' worth of projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The opening proceedings were delayed by at least five hours, culminating in a compromise reluctantly accepted by the EU and other aligned nations.

At a press conference on Tuesday, COP29 officials aimed to refocus attention on the summit's main objective—securing an agreement for up to $1 trillion in annual climate finance for developing nations. Simon Stiell, head of the UNFCCC climate body facilitating the summit, stated, "Empowering every country to take robust climate action is in the best interest of all nations, including the largest and wealthiest. The climate crisis is swiftly evolving into an economic threat." He concluded, "Unless all countries can significantly reduce emissions, every nation and household will face even greater hardships than they currently do. We could be living in a perpetual inflationary nightmare."

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