Leaders from key countries to skip COP29 climate summit

A countdown display for the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference is set in Baku, Azerbaijan October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Karimov

World leaders from major economies including the United States, the European Union and Brazil are planning to skip this year's United Nations climate change summit, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will not attend the COP29 climate summit because of political developments in Brussels, a Commission spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.

There, EU lawmakers are vetting the members of her new European Commission, who will lead EU policymaking for the next five years.

"The Commission is in a transition phase and the president will therefore focus on her institutional duties," the spokesperson said.

US President Joe Biden will also not travel to the event, a Biden administration source told Reuters. COP29 begins on Nov 11, a few days after the US presidential election.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva already cancelled his trip to COP29 following a head injury last month.

Some, but not all, world leaders attend UN climate summits. At past COP gatherings, they have used their speeches to announce new CO2-cutting policies and funding, or redouble their commitment to global efforts to curb climate change.

The US election is looming over this year's UN climate talks, where nearly 200 countries will try to agree a huge increase in global funding to meet CO2-cutting goals.

Climate diplomats say a win by Republican candidate Donald Trump - who pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement during his first presidency - could make it harder for COP29 to yield a deal for a large increase in climate funding.

Li Shuo, a climate diplomacy expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said what countries bring to COP29 in terms of their actions to mobilise more finance would ultimately matter more than which heads of state showed up.

"What matters most is leadership. Leaders should always be at the COP. But more important than their presence is the real commitments countries bring to the table," he said.

China, Japan, Australia and Mexico are also absent from the UN's latest agenda for leaders' speeches at COP29.

The EU will be represented at the summit by European Council President Charles Michel and the bloc's climate policy chief, Wopke Hoekstra.

COP29 overlaps with the Group of 20 summit in Brazil on Nov 18-19, where leaders will also discuss efforts to finance the climate transition.