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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.

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