GettyKey experts including the former UN secretary-general and former UN climate chief say the UN COP climate talks are “no longer fit for purpose” and should be urgent review.
In a letter to the United NationsSenior figures say countries should not hold talks if they do not support phasing out fossil energy.
This week, Azerbaijan’s president told world leaders gathered in his country for COP29 that natural gas is “a gift from God” and that he should not be blamed for bringing it to market.
That came days after the BBC reported that a senior Azerbaijani official appeared to have used his role at the COP to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals.
The United Nations climate negotiations have made significant progress in recent years, despite the fact that unanimous agreement among nearly 200 countries is needed to take action.
the Paris climate agreementsigned in 2015, outlines a long-term plan to curb rising temperatures, as countries try to keep them below 1.5 degrees Celsius this century.
They also agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in their energy systems and triple renewable energy by 2030.
But while the authors of this letter acknowledge these achievements, they feel that the slow-moving COP process is “no longer fit for purpose” in addressing the ongoing climate crisis quick.
“Its current structure simply cannot deliver change at the exponential speed and scale that is needed to ensure a safe landing for humanity,” the signatories said. They include former UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and former Irish president Mary Robinson.
The authors are concerned that the current COP process cannot produce rapid change or force countries to act.
At last year’s COP28 meeting in Dubai, all countries agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems”.
But 12 months later, warming emissions increased again, up nearly 1%.
Scientists say emissions need to be reduced by 42% by the end of the decade to avoid global temperatures rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, considered the threshold for far more dangerous impacts than what we are seeing now.
“Planet Earth is in a critical state,” said leading climate scientist Johan Rockström, another signatory.
“Thirty years of negotiations have achieved very significant results,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
“It is not to question the COP process, on the contrary, we need it more than ever, but we need to move into action mode,” said Professor Rockström.
Getty ImagesThe United Nations has yet to comment on the letter.
At the conference in Baku, negotiators from small island states were particularly concerned about any attempt to change the nature of the COP, where all countries are equal.
They worry that if decisions are made among major emitters in forums such as the G20 group of wealthier nations, their small island’s voice will be excluded.
“We are not participating in those discussions,” said Micahi Robertson, an adviser to the Alliance of Small Island States at these talks.
The letter was prompted by growing concerns about some of the countries chosen to host the COP negotiations and their ability to make significant progress in the fight against rising temperatures. .
Just before the latest conference began, a secret recording showed the executive director of Azerbaijan’s COP29 group, Elnur Soltanov, discuss “investment opportunities” in state-owned oil and gas companies with a man posing as a potential investor.
At the start of COP29, the country’s authoritarian leader, Ilham Aliyev, defended Azerbaijan’s current gas exports and plans to expand production by a third over the next decade.
“It was a gift from God,” he told the audience in Baku.
“Every natural resource whether it is oil, gas, wind, solar, gold, silver, copper, all are natural resources,” he said.
“And countries shouldn’t be blamed for having them and there shouldn’t be blame for putting these resources on the market because the market needs them, the people need them.”
The use of oil and gas is a major cause of global warming, as they release planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide when they are burned.
President Aliyev also criticized France for carrying out colonial “crimes” and “human rights violations” in its overseas territories.
Such strongly expressed views are extremely rare from the leadership of a COP host country, where the aim is to build consensus on how to tackle rising temperatures.
The authors of the letter are also concerned about the COP hosting selection process. Next up is Azerbaijan, another major oil producer, the United Arab Emirates, which held a conference in Dubai last year.
Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said: “At the last COP, fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbered representatives of scientific organizations, indigenous communities and nations. vulnerable”.
“We cannot hope to achieve a just transition without significant reforms to the COP process to ensure fair representation of those most affected.”
The authors say that host countries “must demonstrate their high ambition in maintaining the goals of the Paris agreement”.
They also want smaller, more frequent COPs with clear accountability for the promises countries make.
