It smells like gasoline at the United Nations climate change conference here in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The precise source of the odor isn’t entirely clear. Yet the lingering scent of petroleum is a visceral reminder of the daunting task at hand: international negotiators gathering in this petrostate are trying to wean the world off fossil fuels as the world burns record amounts of oil, gas and coal. And as climate-fueled disasters multiply.
It is a job made exponentially more complicated by last week’s election in the United States.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House virtually ensures that the U.S. will pull out of the Paris climate accord and halt efforts to reduce planet-warming emissions. On Monday, Trump announced that he would appoint Lee Zeldin as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, empowering the former congressman to roll back scores of regulations and dismantle landmark climate regulations.
“Time is not on our side,” António Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General, said on Tuesday. “This is almost certain to be the hottest year on record, and a master class in climate destruction.”
The U.S. delegation, led by President Biden’s international climate adviser, John Podesta, tried to put on a brave face at the event, known as COP29.
“Last week’s election outcome in the United States is obviously disappointing,” Podesta said at the opening of the U.S. pavilion, which is housed inside a converted soccer stadium devoid of any natural light.
Nevertheless, Podesta said, “The United States delegation is here to work. We have a good story to tell here at COP. We’re looking forward to strong outcomes next week.”
Few environmental advocates were so sanguine about the results. “This was devastating,” said Allie Rosenbluth, the co-manager of Oil Change International. “This is horrible.”
Beyond pulling out of existing treaties, the Trump administration is expected to expand fossil fuel production, roll back regulations limiting pollution and reduce incentives for clean energy.
“We’re just devastated to see a second Trump presidency,” said Jacob Johns, a Hopi climate activist based in Spokane, Wash. “It’s a blow to us. The environmental protections he’s trying to strip are going to be devastating, and they’re going to have impacts across the world.”
Dean Bhebhe, a climate campaigner at Power Shift Africa, said the outcome of the U.S. election would reverberate around the globe.
“This casts a long shadow over Africa’s climate goals, especially when it comes to ensuring access to climate finance,” he said.
Striking a deal to provide as much as $1 trillion a year to poor countries is the main goal at this year’s summit. Yet from the outset of the event, the nearly 200 nations in attendance were squabbling about the details of the agenda, a process that is usually routine. And without the U.S. at the table in the years ahead, meeting that financial goal will be exceedingly difficult.
When the parade of world leaders finally began speaking on Tuesday, Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, used his time at the podium to espouse the virtues of fossil fuels.
Calling oil and gas “the gift of the god,” Aliyev, said countries “should not be blamed for having them.”
Meanwhile, the chief executives of some of the worlds biggest oil companies, including Exxon, BP and Total, roamed the hallways, rubbing shoulders with activists and negotiators who would like nothing more than to put them out of business. (Darren Woods, the Exxon C.E.O., said Tuesday that the U.S. should stay in the Paris climate accord.)
As the U.S. pulls back, many experts expect China to step up and play a bigger role in steering international climate negotiations. Evidence of the country’s rapid advances in electric vehicles was easy to see on the streets of Baku: many of the cars shuttling delegates around were BYDs, China’s answer to Tesla.
More prominent than the electric vehicles, however, were the persistent reminders of the overwhelming dominance of oil and gas. The skyscrapers that dominate the Baku skyline are shaped like flames and inspired by natural gas flares. The city is surrounded by oil fields. To the north is Russia, and to the south is Iran.
“We will be strong advocates for a green transition and we are doing it,” Aliyev said. “But at the same time, we must be realistic.”
It was an honest assessment from the COP29 host, but it was one that lacked urgency: when it comes to climate conversations, “realistic” is often code for “slow.”
Read more of our COP29 coverage:
Biden Team Tries to Buoy Climate Talks Jolted by ‘Bitterly Disappointing’ Election
Exxon Chief to Trump: Don’t Withdraw From Paris Climate Deal
How to Raise Trillions to Fight Climate Change, With or Without the U.S.
Trump’s new E.P.A. pick
Trump announced on Monday that he would nominate former Representative Lee Zeldin, Republican of New York, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a position that is expected to be central to Trump’s plans to dismantle landmark climate regulations.
Trump campaigned on pledges to “kill” and “cancel” E.P.A. rules and regulations to combat global warming by restricting fossil fuel pollution from vehicle tailpipes, power plant smokestacks and oil and gas wells. In particular, Trump wants to erase the Biden administration’s most significant climate rule. .
A former congressman from Long Island who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, Zeldin, 44, is an avid Trump supporter who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election. — Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman
More Trump transition news:
What does Elon Musk want? Elon Musk has described himself as “pro-environment” and “super pro climate.” But he also threw himself wholeheartedly into electing as president someone who has dismissed global warming as a hoax.
Now, as Trump prepares to enter the White House, one big question is how much sway — if any — Musk’s views on climate change and clean energy might have in the new administration. — Brad Plumer
Trump team prepares executive orders: As Trump’s transition team plans his energy and environment agenda, it is relying on two seasoned former cabinet leaders and fossil fuel lobbyists — David Bernhardt and Andrew Wheeler — to significantly reshape the agencies charged with protecting the nation’s air, water, climate and public lands, according to six people familiar with the matter.
People working on the transition have already prepared a slate of executive orders and presidential proclamations on climate and energy. They include withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, eliminating every office in every agency working to end the pollution that disproportionately affects poor communities and shrinking the size of national monuments in the West to allow more drilling and mining on public lands. — Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman
Biden and environmental groups try to protect climate policies: Biden administration aides are racing to award hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and finalize environmental regulations in an effort to lock in President Biden’s climate agenda before Trump enters the White House, said John Podesta, the president’s senior adviser on clean energy. — Lisa Friedman
More climate news:
An emperor penguin was found on an Australian beach, more than 2,000 miles from its natural habitat, The Washington Post reported.
E&E News explores how a second Trump administration could lead to a boom in mining for critical minerals used in electric vehicle batteries.
Reaching the world’s 2030 climate goals is becoming increasingly unlikely, Bloomberg reports.
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