He said despite 30 years of negotiations, world emissions are higher than ever, about 80 percent of global energy comes from fossil fuels, and record numbers of oil lobbyists attended recent summits.

However, talks are still “a really important area,” said Abreu, director of the International Climate Policy Center.

“Agreements in (this) area form the basis of almost all climate policies worldwide,” he said.

Here’s a guide to the international climate talks held in Azerbaijan this year, known as COP29.

What is COP29?

This is the 29th annual conference of the signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held from 11 to 22 November.

Many of the world’s most important climate agreements emerged from these talks. The Kyoto Protocol, the first international agreement to set binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, was adopted at COP3 in Japan in 1997. Nearly two decades later in Paris, the world agreed to try to limit global warming to well below two degrees and reduce global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Canada hosted the talks in Montreal nearly two decades ago.

This year, negotiations in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, are expected to focus on a new climate finance target. In short, negotiators are deciding how much money rich countries, which have historically contributed the most to planet-warming emissions, should pledge to other countries to combat climate change.

What are Canada’s priorities?

Two of Canada’s top priorities are expected to be agreeing on a new climate finance target and pushing other countries to prepare ambitious national climate plans.

According to the Paris agreement, countries must update their national climate plans every five years, with the next round of updates due in 2025.

Climate finance policy analyst Julie Segal says these two priorities are linked. The “litmus test” for success this year will be whether Canada and other rich countries can commit to a financing target that can adequately fund their ambitious climate plans.

“Canada must be a high-bar player, recognizing that rich countries like ours need to support more vulnerable countries in the climate transition,” said Segal, senior director of climate finance at Environmental Defense, a Canadian advocacy group.

Various assessments have suggested that the new climate finance target could exceed $1 trillion.

Canada has played an intermediary role in previous climate finance talks. After developed countries agreed in 2009 to raise $100 billion annually by 2020 to support developing countries in fighting climate change, Canada was chosen as one of the countries that would help mobilize this financing.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change said he would be happy for Canada to recast its “bridge-builder” role in these talks.

While he did not comment on some of the dollar figures proposed for the new target, he underlined the importance of ensuring that developing countries have easy access to finance.

Who’s going?

Although there is still a very large guest list, the number of COP attendees has decreased greatly since last year. Preliminary figures released late last month show registration numbers at 32,000, compared with around 85,000 people who attended talks in Dubai last year.

The Canadian delegation will be led by Guilbeault and will include the country’s climate change ambassador as well as the chief climate negotiator.

The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan are not expected to attend. Both participated in last year’s talks arguing that the federal government would not properly support state interests on the world stage.

Alberta says it will send its environment minister this year. Saskatchewan, which spent an estimated $765,000 to host its own event space at last year’s conference, has not announced plans to attend. A general election was held in the state last month, and inquiries made to government spokesmen received no response before the deadline for this story.

How will US election results shape negotiations?

Donald Trump’s victory is expected to emerge at the conference.

Describing climate change as a hoax and aiming to roll back the US’s basic climate policies, Trump withdrew from the Paris agreement in his previous term and signaled that he would do so again.

While Trump won’t take office until January, countries intent on derailing ambitious climate deals in Azerbaijan could be strengthened by his return, said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, a Berlin-based climate think tank.

“A lot of work has been done to ensure that the system does not collapse if Trump is elected, but this will still weaken the pressure for a positive outcome in Baku,” he said.

Guilbeault downplayed these concerns, underlining that President Joe Biden’s administration still represents the United States in the talks.

“I am confident that the United States will continue to be an important partner in these negotiations for many years to come,” he said.

Guilbeault suggested that Trump billionaire backer and Tesla CEO Elon Musk could help influence the president-elect to embrace electrification.

A brief glossary of climate policy jargon to help you navigate COP29

Catherine McKenna, Canada’s former environment minister, said climate policy discussions can be dominated by acronyms and jargon.

“It’s hard to convey the urgency or opportunity on climate when we’re talking in really weird ways,” he said.

To help cut through the jargon, here are some common acronyms and phrases expected to come up in this year’s talks.

NCQG: New collective numerical target. This is the name of the new climate finance target that will be at the center of this year’s negotiations.

NDC: Nationally determined contributions. The United Nations calls these national climate plans, which must be updated every five years.

Net zero emissions: This describes the scenario in which planet-warming emissions added to the atmosphere could be absorbed and the equilibrium would remain at zero. This doesn’t mean that all emissions will stop completely, but it does mean that greenhouse gases emitted by humans could be captured by carbon-absorbing forests and wetlands, for example. Canada has a statutory target to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

– IRA: Inflation Reduction Act. This is the US law that allocates $369 billion in incentives to clean energy and climate programs. Trump said he would keep unspent funds.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2024.

Jordan Omstead, Canadian Press