Greetings from Baku. Participants are returning to Baku Stadium in Azerbaijan for climate talks after a scheduled rest day on Sunday. As Cop29 enters its second week the clock is ticking and pressure is mounting on negotiators to seal a finance deal. At the end of last week, the climate summit's presidency had urged parties to accelerate progress, while Simon Stiell said that although there is a long way to go "everyone is aware of the stakes". However, political undertones appear to be casting a shadow over global climate discussions behind closed doors - such as a French minister cancelling her trip to the summit and Argentina withdrawing its delegation. High-profile absences such as <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/16/geopolitical-tensions-simmer-as-cop29-heads-into-second-week/" target="_blank">US President Joe Biden and China’s President </a>Xi Jinping do not help. This week, all eyes are on whether a meaningful goal can be achieved amid turbulent times and a fracturing world. Questions remain as to how a new finance deal or the New Collective Quantified Goal will be cut, who will pay the US$1 trillion bill? Existing UN treaties ask developed countries to fund the climate fight. Meanwhile others call for a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/16/cop29-and-the-1-trillion-tussle-will-countries-contribute-to-the-climate-fund/" target="_blank">reshaping of the donor base. </a> Meanwhile, climate action is expected to dominate discussions in Rio de Janeiro as G20 leaders gather. "The world is watching and expecting strong signals that climate action is core business for the world's biggest economies," said Mr Stiell. Read John Dennehy's full story <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/16/geopolitical-tensions-simmer-as-cop29-heads-into-second-week/" target="_blank">here.</a> Talks about a $1 trillion-a-year fund to fight <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/climate-change/" target="_blank">climate change</a> are fractured over who will pay, as rising economies such as <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/china/" target="_blank">China</a>, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/brazil/" target="_blank">Brazil</a> and <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/india/" target="_blank">India</a> resist pressure to split the bill, sources have told <i>The National</i>. One negotiator described a “series of deadlocks” at the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/cop/" target="_blank">Cop29</a> summit in Azerbaijan, with poorer countries at odds over whether to accept proposals from the US and Europe to pass the collection bucket beyond the developed world. About 200 countries taking part in the talks have days left to agree on the terms of the vast financial pledge to pay for green policies to curb global warming at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and fund disaster preparation and recovery where it is too late. Suggestions include billing the world's top historical polluters, which could put China and Russia on the hook, linking contributions to a level of income that could bring in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/middle-east/" target="_blank">Middle East</a> states, or asking for payments from a less defined group such as "countries in a position to do so". Read Tim Stickings's full story is <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/16/cop29-and-the-1-trillion-tussle-will-countries-contribute-to-the-climate-fund/" target="_blank">here</a>. The UAE has launched an initiative to double annual global energy efficiency rates by 2030 and reduce emissions. The Global Energy Efficiency Alliance aligns with the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/06/15/cop28-president-welcomes-g7-summits-support-of-uae-consensus/" target="_blank">UAE Consensus</a> from <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/cop28/" target="_blank">Cop28</a>, where countries, organisations and companies committed to reducing carbon emissions and minimising natural resource consumption. Speaking at an event at the UAE's national pavilion at <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/12/world-leaders-jet-in-for-cop29-as-clamour-for-action-grows/" target="_blank">Cop29</a> in Azerbaijan, Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, said one of the key objectives of the alliance is knowledge sharing. Rachel Kelly's full story <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/2024/11/15/uae-launches-global-initiative-to-double-energy-efficiency-rates-at-cop29/" target="_blank">is here.</a> How many people are attending Cop29 this year? On October 21st, registrations sat at 32,000. As days edged closer to the start of the talks, this number grew to between 40,000 to 50,000 participants. Official figures now show registrations to be closer to 67,000. We will not know the exact number of guests under post Cop29, but if this figure holds, this will be the second largest Cop attendance rate. The largest was Dubai last year with more than 83,000 participants. <b>Agrigenomics: </b>this is the use of genomic tools in agriculture, to address climate change and improve crop and livestock resilience. A full guide to understanding climate jargon<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/climate/cop28/2023/11/09/cop28-net-zero-15c-our-guide-to-climate-change-jargon/?utm_source=The+National+newsletters&utm_campaign=0a087136ba-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_07_09_02_20_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-138f6bcf16-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D" target="_blank"> is here</a>. <b>READ MORE</b>
