“Earth is ablaze, and humanity is exposed,” warned United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres ahead of the massive UN climate summit starting next week.
Set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) hopes to make large strides toward combating climate change and eliminating carbon emissions.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) states:
To put it simply, the COP is where the world comes together to agree on the actions to address the climate crisis, such as limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
One of the largest goals of the conference is to get more money from nations in the name of saving the planet. Guterres announced a lofty ambition for developed countries to double financial support for climate efforts such as windmills and solar — to $40 billion by next year.
The United States currently foots one-third of the United Nations’ budget. Simon Stiell, UNFCCC executive secretary, said in a promotional video for COP29, “Climate finance is the great enabler.”
Future U.S. Involvement
With the landslide election victory of President-elect Donald Trump, who pulled the U.S. out of the UN’s Paris Agreement, many questions loom concerning the future of American involvement in globalist climate efforts.
On the Joe Rogan Experience podcast days before the election, Trump shared his views on the current environmentalist agenda. He specifically took aim at windmills, arguing that they are the most expensive and least effective form of energy. “The environmentalist dream is windmills everywhere. You know what happens to them? After five years they start to rot; after 10 years you have to replace them.”
Trump has also doubled down on his commitment to drill for oil and bring back American energy independence.
Though Joe Biden is not planning to attend, John Podesta, his international climate policy advisor; Jennifer Granholm, U.S. energy secretary; Tom Vilsack, U.S. secretary of agriculture; and Ali Zaidi, White House national climate advisor, are expected to be there.
COP29 is a developing story. Stay tuned, as The New American’s Alex Newman and Andrew Muller will be on the ground reporting from Baku. Coverage begins on November 13.
