Dozens of world leaders are scheduled to deliver speeches at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan on Tuesday, setting the stage for two weeks of critical negotiations on climate action.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres is among the key speakers expected to address the conference.
The summit, known as COP29, began on Monday in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, with nearly 200 state representatives in attendance. The primary focus of discussions will be strategies to manage and mitigate the escalating climate crisis, which has been marked by increasingly severe flooding, cyclones, wildfires, heatwaves, and droughts.
A major goal of COP29 will be to secure new financial commitments for poorer nations that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Notably, several prominent international leaders have opted out of attending the conference. French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Brazilian President Lula da Silva, whose country is set to assume the COP presidency in 2025, will not be present.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also cancelled his planned trip to Baku, citing the recent collapse of his governing coalition as the reason.
