Distractions were bigger than deals in the first week of United Nations climate talks, leaving a lot to be done, especially on the main issue of money, reported The Associated Press.

In week one, not a lot of progress was made on the issue of how much money rich countries should pay to developed ones to move away from dirty fuels and how to cope with rising seas and temperatures and pay for damage already caused by climate-driven extreme weather.

But more is expected when government ministers fly in for week two to handle the hard political deal-making at the negotiations — known as COP29 — in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Countries remain about a trillion dollars a year apart in the big number to be settled.

“All the developing countries look very united behind $1.3 trillion. That’s not a ceiling. That’s what they want. That’s what they think they need,” Debbie Hillier, policy lead at Mercy Corps told The AP.

“The U.S. and Canada are constantly talking about a floor of $100 billion…. So you’ve got $100 billion at one end and $1.3 trillion” on the other end.

Calls for Greater Commitment from Wealthy Nations

While poor countries have come up with a number for the total final package, the rich donor nations have assiduously avoided giving a total, choosing to pick a figure late in the bargaining game, Hillier said.

“The intention of developed countries to really come clean and show commitment is missing,” said Harjeet Singh, global engagement director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative informed The AP.

“They have not uttered a single word on what the (final total) is going to be which is very disturbing.”

Especially when it comes to this total, United Nations Climate Secretary Simon Stiell said, “negotiations on key issues need to be moving much faster.”

“What’s at stake here in Baku,” Stiell said, is “nothing less than the capacity to halve emissions this decade and protect lives and livelihoods from spiraling climate impacts.”

External Tensions and Controversies Disrupt the Talks

At the moment, the sides are far away, which is sort of normal for this stage. The technical details that are worked out by negotiators now have to give way to the bigger, harder number decisions made by climate and finance ministers to make more political decisions, Ani Dasgupta, president of World Resources Institute briefed the news agency.

“Member states have not moved and parties have not moved as expeditiously as they need to do,” said United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen told AP. “This is causing frustration. I understand that. So the answer is to push and push more and ensure that we land where we need to land.”

Andersen said it’s not smart to judge where countries will end up after just one week. Things change. It’s the nature of how negotiations are designed, experts briefed the news agency.

That’s how it usually goes.

The Usual COP Brinkmanship

“COP works on brinkmanship,” said Avinash Persaud, a special climate adviser at the Inter-American Development Bank. “COP works on the fear of us not reaching agreement in the end, which makes the process appear chaotic from the outside.”

Ministers will also be consulting with their bosses half a world away and seven hours behind at the Group of 20 countries — the G20 — in Brazil from Monday. The G20 is comprised of the world’s richest nations, who are also responsible for 77% of planet-heating gases being spewed.

Usually, the second week is when the COP president takes over and pushes sides together for a deal. Different negotiations’ presidents have different styles. Last year’s president used sharp elbows to get things done, upsetting some people.

That’s not the style of this year’s COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev.

“What I see with Mukhtar is that he uses a gentle presence, a degree of humility in his very presence,” Andersen said.

But Mohamed Adow, of the think tank Power Shift Africa said “the presidency is not giving any hope for how he will help the world strike the right compromises.”

Optimism with Caution

Babayev struck an optimistic tone in a statement to The AP on how things are looking at the halfway point.

“We have made good progress in the first week. We’re feeling positive but there is still much work to do,” Babayev said. “Success does not depend on one country or party alone – it requires all of us.”

Much of the news from the talks’ first weeks came from outside the negotiation rooms.

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