World leaders have gathered to participate in the 29th United Nations Annual Climate Conference held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. However, major world leaders and powerful countries are missing from this conference whereas previous climate talks have seen the presence of prominent figures. This year’s annual climate talks are expected to be like a chess game, in which there may be no high-profile personalities but there may be a game of check-mate between developed and developing countries on various issues.
Also read: COP29: Great brainstorming in Azerbaijan regarding climate, India’s strategy to focus on these
What is COP, why does it happen every year?
COP stands for ‘Conference of Parties’ which is an organization of the United Nations. This includes the 200 countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. The purpose of the agreement was to discuss the right ways to deal with the root causes of climate change and take action accordingly and for this, these countries participate in this conference every year. COP 29 is the 29th such conference.
Major reason for global warming
Developed countries are considered to be the major reason for carbon emissions and the resulting global warming. At the same time, these problems affect poor and emerging economy countries. A big agenda of this meeting is to allocate money (climate finance) to help these countries facing the brunt of global warming. New goals and consensus would be an important step towards building trust between rich and poor countries, but the track record so far has not been good. In the year 2020, it was decided that rich countries would give 100 billion dollars every year, but this target was never achieved except in 2022. In the meeting, many countries will present strategies to deal with global warming.
Also read: Baku conference will be able to remove the apathy of rich countries
Allegation of suppression of freedom of expression
Representatives of about 200 countries and hundreds of journalists have come to participate in the United Nations Climate Talks (COP29) being held in the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s human rights record has been poor over the years, and the government has frequently targeted journalists, activists, and independent politicians. Human rights organizations have accused Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and his administration of harshly suppressing freedom of expression ahead of the climate summit. He claims that the administration has targeted climate activists and journalists. Aliyev’s father Heydar ruled Azerbaijan from 1993 until his death in 2003, and he was succeeded by Ilham. Both have been accused of suppressing the voice of dissent.
