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