What's point of COP29 ‘if polluters continue as usual’: Albanian PM

Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, has gone off-script - he said he left behind his “well-prepared speech” after watching yesterday’s leaders make their statements on silent screens above comfortable couches in an adjoining room at the Cop29 venue in Baku yesterday.

“People there eat, drink, meet and take photos together - while images of voiceless leaders play on and on and on in the background,” he said. “To me, this seems exactly like what happens in the real world every day. Life goes on, with its old habits, and our speeches - full of good words about fighting climate change - change nothing.”

He pointed to the UN Secretary-General’s statement yesterday highlighting that carbon emissions increased between the last Cop and this one, a finding that my colleague Damian Carrington has broken down here.

“What does it mean for the future of the world if the biggest polluters continue as usual?” asked Rama. “What on earth are we doing in this gathering, over and over and over, if there is no common political will on the horizon to go beyond words and unite for meaningful action?”

Source: The Guardian