International
Possible lack of final agreement overspeaks Baku summit negotiations
Baku can go down in history as another failed climate summit, adding to the list of COPs that ended in failure; with a bad agreement, as in Copenhagen (2009) or without agreement, as in the summit in The Hague (2000).
This is raised in the conversations that negotiators, observers and journalists have this Saturday in the corridors of COP29, after the 24 hours of extension of a summit that was supposed to end on Friday afternoon and in full “chaos” after dozens of countries left the room where the draft of the potential agreement was being negotiated.
The analysts and observers consulted, as well as the negotiating teams, agree to underline the “especially chaotic” end of this summit, from which a not too encouraging outcome is expected: either a “bad agreement” – that does not meet the needs of the Global South to face the climate challenge – or, directly, without agreement.
Pessimism invaded the spaces of the summit that hosts these days the capital of Azerbaijan, and in which about 200 states have been negotiating for two weeks how to finance climate action, especially in those low-income countries and vulnerable to the impacts of global warming.
Everyone mentions the ghost of the failed summits in The Hague and Copenhagen, cases that they would like to avoid, because they fear that going through another failure like this would further undermine the already weaken confidence in multilateralism.
Some developing countries leave the trading room
In addition, small island states and some Africans left the negotiation room where they met the presidency’s latest proposal for the agreement on climate financing that finalizes COP29, where they said they did not feel heard.
Political representatives of the negotiating group that brings together the least developed countries, as well as that of the small island states claimed to have come to the climate summit in Baku to close “a fair agreement” on climate financing, but they have felt “hurt” by not being consulted.
“There is an agreement to be closed and we are not being consulted. We are here to negotiate, but we are leaving because at the moment we do not feel that we are being heard,” said the head of the negotiating group of the island countries, Cedric Schuste, in statements to the media.
“We do everything we can to build bridges with literally everyone. It is not easy, neither in financing nor in mitigation,” stressed the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, to emphasize that “it is fair to ask that we be constructive.”
Some Latin American and Caribbean states, which are trying to build bridges between the least developed and rich countries, expressed their refusal to admit that this Baku summit is closed without an agreement.
“We cannot leave Baku or Copenhagen,” said Panama’s special climate envoy, Juan Carlos Monterrey, in reference to the climate summit held in the Danish capital in 2009, a meeting that the international climate community considered a failure, by not reaching any agreement.
“We are already at a point of not only building bridges, but walking on those bridges,” Monterrey said, after detailing that the countries had left the consultation mainly because of their discrepancies regarding the total amount that rich countries suggest mobilizing to pay for the climate transition and adaptation to the inevitable impacts of global warming.
“The great struggle is the figure,” said Monterrey, since developing countries at this point support that the goal is 300 billion dollars per year by 2035, and developing and emerging economies ask for 500 billion dollars annually and by 2030.
Lack of transparency in the process
Panama’s main negotiator, Ana Aguilar, also criticized the lack of transparency in the process, something she blamed on the Azerbaijani presidency of the summit, which according to her has had more meetings with some parties than with others, and has been three days without favoring negotiations more than bilaterally.
“We have a problem,” said Colombian Minister Susana Muhamad, who claimed that there is still a long distance between the amount that rich countries propose to mobilize and that requested by those that developing countries.
The proposal of the presidency of the COP29, as reflected in a negotiating text made public on Friday, was that the awealing countries pay 250 billion dollars a year by 2035 to the states of the Global South, to help them pay for action against climate change, a phenomenon to which they hardly contribute but of which they are the main victims.
Now there is talk of 300 billion dollars, while the largest group of developing countries demands at least 500 billion.
The dispute is especially in the quantum, Muhamad said, but also “in some of the requirements that I think we can achieve through negotiation,” he said.
“The problem is that it has been published very late, it was published yesterday. The deadline is very short, so we have some countries, those that have less financial capacity, that do not feel satisfied,” explained Muhamad, who added that “we need them to be able to move and deliberate.”
The Colombian minister said that she will encourage rich countries “to take a step forward” and, she added, “it is very important that they do so so that we can move forward and carry out this negotiation.”
International
Sexual assault attempt on Mexico’s president sparks outrage in historic center
A man harassed and groped Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum without her consent on Tuesday while she walked through Mexico City’s historic center, just meters from the National Palace, greeting members of the public.
The man, who appeared to be intoxicated, attempted to kiss the president from behind before grabbing her. Security personnel immediately intervened and detained him, with video footage showing Sheinbaum visibly tense following the incident.
Sheinbaum was on her way to the first National Meeting of Universities and Higher Education Institutions at the Education Secretariat headquarters, located just a few blocks from the palace. She chose to walk to the event due to the short distance.
During the stroll, in one of the busiest parts of the capital, the man took advantage of the crowd surrounding the president, approaching her from behind, trying to kiss her neck and placing his arms around her.
Hours later, federal authorities confirmed that the suspect — identified as Uriel Rivera Martínez — had been arrested and taken to the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office for Sexual Crimes, according to the National Detention Registry.
Legal sources stated that Sheinbaum was the victim of a flagrant sexual abuse offense under Mexico City’s Penal Code, noting that no close assistant intervened at the very moment the assault occurred.
According to a 2024 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), 15.5% of women in Mexico have experienced sexual harassment, groping, exhibitionism or attempted rape — five times the percentage of men, at 3.2%.
International
Longest government shutdown in U.S. history deepens airport and aid crisis
The U.S. government shutdown reached a historic milestone on Wednesday, becoming the longest in the nation’s history as Republicans aligned with President Donald Trump continue to clash with Democratic opposition over the federal budget.
The shutdown entered its 36th day, surpassing the previous record set in 2019 during Trump’s first term in office.
Over the past six weeks, the budget impasse has left roughly 1.4 million federal workers without pay. Employees deemed “essential,” including air traffic controllers and law enforcement officers, have been required to continue working despite not receiving their salaries.
Conditions at airports are growing increasingly strained. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the federal government may be forced to partially shut down U.S. airspace due to staffing shortages.
“So if we go another week from now, Democrats, you will see massive chaos… you will see massive flight delays,” Duffy cautioned.
Social assistance programs have also been disrupted. On Tuesday, Trump stated that food aid relied upon by millions of Americans would not be distributed until the government reopens — contradicting earlier administration comments indicating that partial benefits could still be provided.
International
Deadly fire in bosnian nursing home leaves 11 dead and dozens injured
At least 11 people were killed and more than 30 others were injured after a fire broke out overnight at a nursing home in Bosnia, authorities reported on Wednesday.
The cause of the blaze, which started late Tuesday on the seventh floor of a residential building in the city of Tuzla, remains unclear. Local media reported that the upper floors of the facility housed elderly residents with limited mobility or medical conditions.
Tuzla Mayor Zijad Lugavić said that firefighters and rescue workers were among the injured. Municipal authorities convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday to assess the situation and coordinate response efforts.
Ruža Kajic, a resident living on the third floor, said she had just gone to bed when she heard “bursting sounds” and saw flames descending from the upper levels.
Sexual assault attempt on Mexico’s president sparks outrage in historic center
Longest government shutdown in U.S. history deepens airport and aid crisis
Deadly fire in bosnian nursing home leaves 11 dead and dozens injured
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