World leaders will meet Tuesday for the United Nations annual climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, but the major names and powerful countries are visibly absent, unlike previous climate meetings.
The top leaders of the 13 most carbon-polluting countries will not attend, despite their countries accounting for more than 70% of 2023's heat-trapping gasses.
Largest polluters and strongest economies China and the United States are not sending their delegations. The four most populous countries, which account for more than 42% of the world's population, are not having their leaders speak.
“It’s symptomatic of the lack of political will to act. There’s no sense of urgency,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics.
After a decade of war and instability, Yemen stands at a critical crossroads where climate change and armed conflict converge. The country’s environment, already fragile due to decades of mismanagement, faces additional pressure from climate change.