Experts flag climate concerns as PM, top leaders skip COP29

Top leaders of major global polluters India and China, along with those from prominent economies such as the US, European Union, France, Japan, Israel and Brazil, will skip the ongoing session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) climate summit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav had attended the COP28 in Dubai last year, the Indian delegation this time will be led by Minister of State Kirti Vardhan Singh. He will address the COP29 on November 18 and 19. The PM had earlier attended the COP21 in Paris and the COP26 in Glasgow.

Officials who are part of the delegation said the past COP events had been used by India for key bilateral meetings, but the absence of major world leaders at COP29, being held from November 11 to 22, would not have required the PM’s presence. Environment Minister Yadav’s non-availability for the conference is being attributed to his being the BJP in charge for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

“Prime Minister Modi had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the margins of the COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021. In Paris, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other major global leaders were present. In Dubai last year, PM Modi had met Brazilian and Israeli Presidents,” an official said.

The “World Leaders Climate Action Summit” at the UN Climate Conference is a forum for the heads of states and governments to air their perspective on climate action and articulate national policies on dealing with the crisis, the official said.

Nivedita Bansal, who is part of the 2024 cohort of the “Women Climate Collective”, claimed that world leaders skipping the COP29 “sent a worrying message to the participating countries and undermined the importance of the negotiations”.

“It creates a perception that the negotiations are optional. This can impact the participation of countries in future COPs and derail the progress on climate action. However, this may create a unique opportunity for the parties present to take the lead in creating meaningful climate outcomes globally. The absence of important players can give least developed countries and BRICS nations more visibility and power in leveraging negotiations towards favouring the needs of the Global South,” she said.

Programme manager at the Centre for Science and Environment, Avantika Goswami, said the absence of global leaders would not make the summit insignificant. “Geopolitics is really difficult right now. There are a lot of different conflicting priorities. Multiple wars and tensions are taking place around the world. That does not make the COP29 any less important because without agreeing on an ambitious finance target for climate action in Baku, it will be impossible for developing countries to achieve their climate goals in the remaining part of the decade,” she said.

British PM Keir Starmer, UN Secretary General António Guterres, Barbados PM Mia Mottley, World Bank president Ajay Banga and Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva are among those who would address the summit.