Next UN climate talks are critical to plot aid for poorer nations, says incoming president

BY SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who will run this year’s United Nations climate talks in November views the upcoming negotiations as a key link in international efforts to curb worsening global warming — if they can be successful. Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s environment minister, will serve as president at this fall’s climate talks known as COP29. Babayev says the climate talks can be the juncture between last year’s agreement to transitioning away from fossil fuels, and another critical meeting next year when countries must come up with beefed-up plans to clamp down on heat-trapping gases. In an AP interview, Babayev says Baku is the place to find common ground on how rich countries can help provide financial help to poorer nations that are hit harder by warming.