Activists protest at UN climate summit in Baku

Baku, Azerbaijan. Hundreds of activists formed a human chain outside one of the main plenary halls at the United Nations climate summit on what is traditionally their biggest day of protests during the two-week talks.

The demonstration in Baku, Azerbaijan, will be repeated elsewhere in the world in a global “day of action” for climate justice that has become an annual event.

Activists waved flags, snapped their fingers and murmured chants in a silent protest. Many of them covered their mouths with the word “Silenced.”

Protesters held signs calling for more money for climate finance, which means cash for clean energy transition and climate change adaptation. This comes as negotiators on the ground try to hammer out a deal for exactly that, but progress has been slow and observers say the direction of any agreement is still unclear.

Lidy Nacpil said protesters like her “are not surprised” by how the negotiations are going. But past victories, such as a loss and damage fund that gives cash to developing nations after extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, keep organizers going, said Nacpil, coordinator of the Asian People’s Debt Movement. and Development.

“The role we play is to increase the pressure,” he said of the action. “We know that we are not going to obtain the results that the world needs in this round of negotiations, but at least getting many steps closer is our hope, it is our goal.”

He added: “I think we have no choice but to keep fighting… It’s the instinctive response that any being, any living creature would have, which is to fight for life and fight for survival.”

Tasneem Essop said she was inspired by the action, which was challenging to organise. “To be able to achieve something where people feel their own power, exert their own power and are inspired in this creative way, I’m super excited about this,” she said.

Essop says he is “not very” optimistic about a funding outcome, but knows next week will be crucial. “We cannot end up with a bad deal for the people of the world, those who are already suffering the impacts of climate change, those who need to adapt to a growing and escalating crisis,” he said. “We fought until the end.”

Negotiators at COP29, as the summit is known, are working on a deal that could bring in hundreds of billions of dollars for the poorest countries. Many are in the Global South and already suffering the costly impact of climate disasters fueled by climate change. Experts say $1 trillion a year or more is needed to offset those damages and to finance the transition to clean energy that most nations cannot afford on their own.

Samir Bejanov, deputy chief negotiator for this year’s climate talks, told a news conference that climate finance talks were moving too slowly.

“I want to repeat our strong encouragement to all parties to move forward as much as possible,” he said. “We need everyone to approach the task with urgency and determination.”

Observers were also disappointed by the pace of progress.

“This has been the worst first week of a COP in my 15 years attending this summit,” said Mohamed Adow of the climate think tank Power Shift Africa. “There is no clarity about the objective of climate finance, the quality of the financing or how it will be made accessible to vulnerable countries.”

“I see a lot of frustration, especially among developing countries,” he said.

Panamanian Environment Minister Juan Carlos Navarro agreed, telling The Associated Press that what he has seen so far at COP29 does not encourage him.

He pointed out that he sees many conversations, but few actions and pointed out that Panama is in the group of countries that emit the least greenhouse gases but are most vulnerable to damage caused by phenomena aggravated by climate change.