Leaders from some of the world’s major economies, including the European Union, the United States and Brazil, will not be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, this month.
COP29, which will convene from November 11 to 22, is expected to have more than 40,000 delegates in attendance.
European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will not attend the summit to prepare for a second term in office, reported The Guardian. Instead, a team of negotiators, including energy commissioner Kadri Simson and climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, will represent the commission at the talks.
Shirley Matheson, climate specialist at WWF, said the absence of von der Leyen brought up “serious questions” about the international and European commitment to battling the climate crisis.
“We cannot afford for climate action to move down on Europe’s agenda,” Matheson said.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva— who had already canceled …