Skip to main content
Top leaders accused of lacking the will to act on climate emergency as Cop29 begins
Simon Stiell, United Nations climate chief (second from right) speaks at a news conference with Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan's COP29 lead negotiator, (centre) and Nigar Arpadarai, COP29 climate change champion (right) at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, November 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan

WORLD leaders were accused today of lacking the will to act on the worsening climate emergency.

This came as government delegates continued to converge on the Azerbaijan capital Baku today for the 29th meeting of the United Nations Conference of the Parties climate summit (Cop29).

But the top leaders of the 13 largest carbon-polluting countries will not appear at the 12-day meeting with their countries responsible for more than 70 per cent of 2023’s heat-trapping gases.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Displaced Palestinians flee from Khan Younis, Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli military offensive in the area, May 19, 2025
Gaza / 19 May 2025
19 May 2025
Director General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the opening of the 78th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 19, 2025. Photo: Magali Girardin/Keystone via AP
World Health Organisation / 19 May 2025
19 May 2025
Russian and Ukrainian delegations attend talks at the Dolmabache palace, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 16, 2025
Russia-Ukraine / 16 May 2025
16 May 2025
Similar stories
A screen displaying the Azerbaijan flag sits near power line
Editorial: / 13 November 2024
13 November 2024
Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, speaks during the opening
World / 11 November 2024
11 November 2024