Contents
COP29 will be held in Baku. Experts fear that the country is not up to the big task.
After Dubai, next year it will be Baku’s turn to host the UN climate conference – so, like this year, COP29 will take place in a country that lives from fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. Observers doubt that Azerbaijan will be able to cope with the challenges.
In 2024 it’s about money
At the conference that has just ended in Dubai, the political signal was sent that states should develop away from the fossil fuels of coal, oil and gas.
Next year in Baku it will be about money: the states will then have to determine how much money should flow from the rich to the poorer countries for climate protection and adaptation to climate change.
There is still a lot of trust work to be measured.
The negotiations will revolve around who pays how much money to the developing countries, how the amounts are paid out and who controls the implementation of the projects. And almost everything is still unclear, says Axel Michaelowa.
“There is still a lot of trust work to be done,” says the expert on international climate policy at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Zurich.
For Baku, the climate is actually not an issue
This is no easy task for the hosts of COP29 in Baku. Michaelowa fears that it may be too difficult a task. He does not primarily blame the fact that Azerbaijan is heavily dependent on oil and gas.
But: “I have never heard a substantive statement from Azerbaijan at the 26 climate conferences I have attended so far.”
Logistically, the country will certainly organize the conference well, believes Michaelowa. But in order to bring the negotiations to a result, Azerbaijan will need “enormous support”.
We expect good results to be achieved in Baku
The country is heavily dependent on Russia and Turkey, and these two countries have never appeared as positive actors in the previous climate negotiations.
Bern waits and acts calmly
Meanwhile, official Switzerland is adopting a diplomatic stance: “We expect good results to be achieved,” says Swiss delegation leader Felix Wertli. This is the only way Azerbaijan will be measured as a conference host.
The fact that COP29 in Baku in December 2024 will be a success will at least partly depend on Switzerland: The Federal Council is convinced that Switzerland is doing its fair share of financing climate protection and adaptation in the global south.
But non-governmental organizations and various countries see it differently.