COP29 Negotiations at Crossroads: Financing and Emission Pledges Remain Unresolved

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

At the time of this taping, the negotiations are still underway. This is not a surprise, as these negotiations tend to end in a photo finish. But here are a few things that have happened. The US and Ukraine agreed on a partnership to help Ukraine take a leadership role on nuclear energy and industrial decarbonization.

Speaking of nuclear energy, six countries joined a pledge to triple the amount of nuclear energy by 2050. This brings the total number of countries on that pledge to 28. At the negotiations, there's been a small amount of progress made towards an agreement on a global carbon market. But at the same time, we're seeing a lot of skepticism on the, the impact that that carbon market would have on actually reducing emissions. Now, the carbon market allows, countries, high emitting countries and companies to offset their emissions by paying countries who emit less carbon. This COP is all about climate finance. And the biggest question delegates are dealing with is, something that's been referred to as the trillion dollar question. How much money is needed to support developing countries in the renewable energy transition? And where is that money going to come from?

Now, wealthy countries like the US are pushing for a target of about $100 billion annually, while a block of 134 developing countries are saying that that number needs to be closer to $1.3 trillion. That trillion dollars number is more in line with the recommendations of a UN backed panel of experts. Days before the conference began, the election of Donald Trump signaled that US leadership on climate change is likely to stall over the next four years. As the world's second largest emitter this could have big implications for global climate goals. This is also the second COP in a row to be hosted by a Petro state. Azerbaijan president made no secret of his country's interest in fossil fuels, praising oil and gas as a gift from God in his opening remarks at the conference. Azerbaijan also signed $8 billion in fossil fuel deals over the last year, which is triple the amount of the previous year. Even before COP29 got underway in Baku, a lot of the focus was on COP30, which will be hosted next year in Brazil. At the G20 summit this week in Brazil, President Lula called COP30 the turnaround cop, thinking about it as the last chance for, for action that will avoid irreversible damage to our climate system.