This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP29, has been overshadowed by Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election—an outcome that almost guarantees that Washington will back out of its international climate commitments.
Election aside, an air of unease has loomed over the climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, a country that relies on oil and gas production. The presence of many fossil fuel-linked lobbyists at the summit has sparked criticism. A group of climate leaders, including former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, wrote to the U.N. last week to say that COP is “no longer fit for purpose.”
Can the U.N. climate talks be fixed? And if not, what are other ways to spur global action as the world barrels toward 1.5 degrees of warming? The essays below offer big-picture analysis of the current state of the international climate movement, as well as some suggestions for new ways forward.
The coal-fired Soma power plant in Manisa, western Turkey, on Aug. 15, 2023.Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images
Billionaires Must Help Fix the Planet
It’s time for the ultra-rich to take responsibility for their role in the climate crisis, Ban Ki-moon writes.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell listens during his re-nominations hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in Washington on Jan. 11, 2022.Smialowski-Pool/Getty Images
How to Force Capitalism to Stop Climate Change
Central banks should stop pretending to be neutral about saving the planet, Jason Hickel and Charles Stevenson write.
An aerial view of activists lying on the dry soil of La Viñuela reservoir during a demonstration calling for climate action in Spain on March 22, 2023. Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images
No, It’s Not Too Late to Save the Planet
Doomism robs people of the agency and incentive to participate in a solution to the climate crisis, Paul Hockenos writes.
Aerial view of a deforested area of the Amazonia rainforest in the surroundings of the BR-319 highway at the city of Humaita, Amazonas state, Brazil, on Sept. 15, 2022. Michael Dantas/AFP via Getty Images
Relieve Debt to Protect the Environment
Debt-for-nature swaps on a grand scale could slow climate change and promote economic growth in the Global South, Elizabeth Losos, Alexander Pfaff, and Stuart Pimm write.
Children take part in a climate protest as Parliament resumes in London on Sept 2.Carl Court/Getty Images
Is Climate Activism Working?
FP’s Cameron Abadi and Adam Tooze discuss how in Germany and elsewhere, the impact has been modest.