BAKU, Azerbaijan — As the red-eye flight from London made its final descent into Baku, the sunrise lit up the eastern sky, turning the Caspian Sea into a blaze of orange. Most of the passengers were heading to COP29, a two-week climate conference featuring almost 200 nations held in oil-rich Azerbaijan.
The mood on the plane was grim, and more than one of those on board must have been wondering: Are these United Nations climate summits doomed?
Donald Trump had won the U.S. presidency just a few days before, bringing a wave of promises to eviscerate America’s climate efforts and yank the country from these very talks.
Looking at the sunrise, one passenger murmured: “Maybe there is hope after all.” The light twinkled off Baku’s skyscrapers — and the oil wells and giant refinery towers that had helped pay for them.
