What will this year's COP29 conference do to address climate change on a global level?

AccuWeather

The annual U.N. climate change conference is underway in Azerbaijan, but what will actually happen there? We speak with a familiar face from Climate Central to learn more.

Transcript

00:00COP 29 is the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference.

00:06It begins Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan.

00:09This year's climate summit brings together world leaders from nearly 200 countries

00:14to meet on global climate action.

00:16Well, no one likes talking about this issue more than me.

00:19So with that, let's bring in Bernadette Woods,

00:24Chief Meteorologist and Climate Matters Director of the non-profit group Climate Central

00:29and by Bern's smile and my smile, we know each other here.

00:34And right now we're feeling the Bern with Bern and Bern.

00:38Bern, it's always great to see you.

00:41It is always wonderful to see you.

00:43For those who don't know, I used to work at AccuWeather, so I go way back with Bernie.

00:47Way, way back. All right, Bern.

00:49I wonder why she's not here.

00:52It's nothing to do with you, Bernie.

00:54Thanks for pointing that out.

00:55No problem. All right, let's get to it.

00:57All right. After a year of record heat and severe weather globally,

01:00is there more urgency on the topic of climate change, Bern?

01:04Absolutely.

01:06These extreme events are accelerating and compounding.

01:12It's not that we're just getting more of those,

01:14but they're happening where we see a hurricane make landfall.

01:18You were just talking about hurricanes, but it'll wipe out an entire power infrastructure

01:22so that when the heat sets in afterwards, we're dealing with the heat issues.

01:26So these issues are happening faster.

01:29There's less time for us to react around them and prepare,

01:32and they're really draining our systems.

01:35What are the goals and the focus for this year's Climate Summit?

01:40Well, every year, the main goal is to deliver on the Paris Agreement,

01:45which is to keep warming globally below two degrees Celsius

01:49with an aspiration of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

01:52And we know we talk about Fahrenheit here in the United States,

01:54but the rest of the world does talk Celsius.

01:56We're already at 1.3 degrees Celsius,

01:59and all of that impact we're seeing from extreme weather is at just this level.

02:04So with every tenth of a degree, those issues are only going to get worse

02:08and affect more people, more lives, more livelihoods.

02:11So overall, we're trying to keep down that warming below that two degrees Celsius

02:16with an aspiration of 1.5.

02:19Now, in a big agreement, in a big global UN agreement,

02:22there are layers to it and articles that people work through every year.

02:26And this year, one of the main priorities is going to be financing,

02:29how to really shift financing to supporting a lot of the countries

02:33that are dealing with the worst impacts of climate change.

02:37In addition to that, we're looking at how we will continue to phase down

02:41fossil fuels, or some may say phase out.

02:43That was a big battle in language last COP.

02:46And then the other one is accelerating our shift to renewable energy.

02:50And we're seeing that around the world right now.

02:52But since our impacts are happening even faster,

02:56we need to really crank the dial on that acceleration toward renewable energy.

03:02And you'll be in Azerbaijan next week.

03:05What happens at these events?

03:07What topics are you looking most forward to discussing?

03:12Well, these, I call them a three ring circus,

03:14because there's the actual negotiations from all of the countries.

03:18And at the same time, there's this conference convention happening alongside it

03:22with pavilions from so many of the countries.

03:25There's a US pavilion.

03:26There are collections of climate justice.

03:29There's a kids pavilion, children and the youth and climate.

03:33There's also one focused on certain topics.

03:35There's a science pavilion.

03:36There's an oceans pavilion.

03:38So all of these big groups come together

03:40and really try to have these conversations,

03:44really form those partnerships.

03:46And so how we can go farther, faster together from the full range,

03:49as you explained during the beginning of this,

03:51from finance, from science, from business, from advocacy, from faith.

03:56I mean, it's all represented there.

03:58And then the third ring of the circus is the advocacy.

04:01And those are people really trying to push on the negotiations

04:05to make them happen even faster.

04:07Chief meteorologist and climate matters director.

04:10Fancy title.

04:12She's an important person.

04:13Very important.

04:14Very important.

04:15And she's a friend of mine, Bernadette Woods.

04:17Bern, it's always great to see you.

04:19Bernie was taking selfies with you.

04:20Yeah, yeah.

04:21I have a selfie with you and I sent it to you on your mobile device.

04:23Take a look at it.

04:25Okay.

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