World Leaders’ Absence Casts Shadow Over COP29 Climate Talks in Baku

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov 12 (Reuters) — The COP29 climate summit kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday, but key world leaders are noticeably missing. Leaders from the largest polluting countries—China, the U.S., India, and Indonesia—are not attending the conference, raising concerns about the lack of political will to tackle the climate crisis.

President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, criticized the absence of these leaders, saying, “The people who are responsible for this are absent.” He also pointed out that France, the country behind the 2015 Paris Agreement, was not sending its top official either.

Experts like Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, expressed frustration, stating that the lack of urgency from these countries shows a failure to act on climate change. “There’s no sense of urgency,” Hare said, describing the global situation as a “mess.”

The summit is still set to discuss urgent climate issues, but many are concerned that without the involvement of major world leaders, meaningful action may not be achieved. As the summit continues, the focus will be on whether COP29 can still make progress in fighting climate change despite the absence of key political figures.