World leaders yesterday opened the global climate summit, COP29, in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, amid a bleak reality: The U.S., the country responsible for pumping the most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is expected to soon drop out of the fight against climate change.
During the two-week talks, financial support for developing countries is expected to be a focus, but the U.S. is likely to abandon its plans to give aid. President-elect Donald Trump also intends to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the 2015 international pact to protect the planet.
The talks are being hosted by an autocratic government whose economy relies almost entirely on fossil fuels.
