Bloomberg: The climate conference being held in Azerbaijan will not see major progress

Azerbaijan has little immediate incentive to slash its fossil fuel output and scant experience as a leader in climate policy, Bloomberg writes. So environmental campaigners are skeptical that COP29—which opened on Nov. 11 in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku — will see major progress in slowing global warming.

Two years of wild weather events underscore the challenge, with floods, droughts and heat waves amplified by climate change leaving almost no part of the world untouched.

Donald Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election means the U.S., the world’s second-biggest polluter after China, is likely to withdraw from global climate agreements and cancel policies encouraging renewable energy.

COP’s goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which means slashing fossil fuel production and consumption. At last year’s COP, the headline agreement was that countries would “transition away from fossil fuels.” There’s little apparent incentive for COP host Azerbaijan to do that, as its oil and gas represent 95% of its exports, and its leaders have plans to expand gas production to meet demand in Europe.