Azerbaijan, hosting COP29, urged nations to bridge differences and finalise a financial deal to help poorer countries combat climate change. As the summit nears its end, divisions remain over funding commitments and the role of the US.
Azerbaijan, host of the COP29 climate summit, urged participating countries on Friday to resolve their differences and reach a financial agreement as the two-week conference neared its conclusion.
Governments gathered in the Caspian Sea city of Baku are working towards a comprehensive deal that would see wealthy nations pledge to provide billions of dollars annually to assist poorer countries in addressing the escalating effects of climate change. Economists suggest that developing nations need at least $1 trillion each year by the end of the decade, but wealthier countries have yet to agree. The talks have also been complicated by uncertainty over the role of the United States, the world's largest historical greenhouse gas emitter, ahead of climate sceptic President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.
"We encourage parties to continue to collaborate within and across groups with the aim of proposing bridging proposals that will help us to finalise our work here in Baku," said the COP29 presidency in a note to delegates on Friday morning. It added that a new draft deal would be released at midday in Baku, with hopes for a resolution by the end of the day.
Past COPs have typically run over time, and divisions within the negotiations have already become evident. A new draft deal released on Thursday presented two vastly different options, neither of which satisfied all parties. While the 10-page document was shortened to less than half the size of previous drafts, it still left key questions unresolved, such as the total amount of funding countries should commit to each year, with that space marked simply with an "X." It also highlighted divisions over whether funds should be given as grants or loans, and the extent to which different forms of non-public finance should count towards the final annual target.
"I hope they find the sweet spot with this next iteration," said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society, a long-time observer of COP summits. "Anything other than that may require rescheduling flights."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres returned to Baku from a G20 meeting in Brazil on Thursday, urging a major push for a deal and warning that "failure is not an option."
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Iran’s Commander-in-Chief of Army, Major General Amir Hatami has warned against hostile rhetoric from U.S. and Israeli officials. “Iran considers the intensification of the enemies' rhetoric against the Iranian nation as a threat and will not leave its continuation unanswered,” Hatami said.
China has begun exporting a rapid blackout recovery technology designed to restore electricity in just 0.1 seconds, offering power grid protection to 12 countries facing rising risks of outages and instability.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed reports that Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s toppled leader, was previously offered asylum in Türkiye. “We have not received any such news,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by local media after a Cabinet meeting held Wednesday in Ankara.
Armenia has confirmed the shipment of a second batch of petroleum products from Azerbaijan, underscoring expanding economic ties between the two countries following the recent peace process. Yerevan's Ministry of Economy’s spokesperson, Lilit Shaboyan, verified the information.
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) sources reported a significant movement of U.S. military aircraft towards the Middle East in recent hours. Dozens of U.S. Air Force aerial refuelling tankers and heavy transport aircraft were observed heading eastwards, presumably to staging points in the region.
Snow and ice stalled travellers in northwest Europe on Wednesday, forcing around a thousand to spend the night in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport but delighting others who set out to explore a snow-blanketed Paris on sledges and skis.
Diplomatic tensions between Tokyo and Beijing escalated as Japan slams China's export ban on dual-use goods. Markets have wobbled as fears grow over a potential rare earth embargo affecting global supply chains.
Two people have been killed after a private helicopter crashed at a recreation centre in Russia’s Perm region, Russian authorities and local media have said.
Iran’s chief justice has warned protesters there will be “no leniency for those who help the enemy against the Islamic Republic”, as rights groups reported a rising death toll during what observers describe as the country’s biggest wave of unrest in three years.
The 240-megawatt Khizi-Absheron Wind Power Plant has been inaugurated in Azerbaijan on Thursday (8 Jan) by President Illham Aliyev, who described the launch as a landmark moment for Azerbaijan's energy sector. It's the first large-scale, independently developed wind energry project in the country.
A mountain gorilla has given birth to twins in war‑torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a national park said on Wednesday, calling the event “a major event” for the endangered subspecies.
Experts say COP30 failed to deliver concrete commitments on fossil fuels and deforestation despite high expectations.
Snow and ice caused travel chaos in northwest Europe on Wednesday, while others were delighted by the snow-covered streets of Paris, venturing out on sledges and skis.
Emergency services across southeastern Australia have been placed on high alert as a blistering air mass pushes temperatures to dangerous extremes, reviving painful memories of the nation's catastrophic fire seasons of the past decade.
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