Politico: Wary of Trump and Azerbaijan, businesses shun COP29 talks

Businesses of all stripes are planning to either skip or send smaller delegations to this year’s global COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, wary of the event’s location and logistics, the oil-evangelizing autocratic regime running it and, perhaps most notably, the prospect of Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential election just days before the November summit begins, Politico writes.

COP29 is expected to be more low-key than Dubai or next year’s talks in Brazil.

Then there’s the Trump factor. The climate-skeptic Republican nominee would significantly rattle the global response and message coming out of Baku if he wins. The U.S. presidential election will be held just days before COP29.

If elected, Trump has vowed to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement for a second time. This causes some skepticism among businessmen toward COP29, which is why companies have focused in particular on New York City Climate Week in September. Moreover, the country is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenues to power its economy, creating concerns for companies over being associated with greenwashing. Aliyev has stated plainly that oil- and gas-producing nations like his should continue investing in the sector, clashing with last year’s COP28 outcome in which all nations called for accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels.