Climate envoy reassures commitment to work despite Trump’s return

U.S. climate envoy John Podesta reassured delegates at the U.N. climate summit in Baku that despite President-elect Donald Trump’s opposition to climate action, the U.S. will continue to work towards addressing global warming. Podesta highlighted President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a key driver of investments in clean energy. However, challenges remain as Trump has promised to rescind the IRA, although this would require Congressional approval.

The summit in Baku is also addressing economic concerns and conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, making it difficult to focus on key agenda items such as climate finance for developing countries. Despite the urgency of addressing climate change, disagreements have arisen over setting the agenda for negotiations and including trade on the agenda.

Countries are concerned that U.S. disengagement could lead to a scaling back of climate pledges and ambitions worldwide. The European Union’s climate ambassador warned that without ambitious targets from the U.S., other countries may not feel motivated to set their own targets.

Azerbaijan, the host of the summit, is both promoting clean energy while also relying on fossil fuels for a significant portion of its economy. President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the country’s transition to clean energy while also proposing a Climate Finance Action Fund to collect funds from extractive companies. The summit highlighted the urgent need for global cooperation to address climate change and transition to cleaner energy sources.

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