‘Dark times’: Climate activists on why they’re still fighting at COP29

For onlookers, COP29 in Baku does not appear as a beacon of hope. 

Global events have conspired to make progress at the UN climate conference – this year centred on finance – even more grinding than usual. 

Donald Trump is the orange-hued elephant in the room, as the US president-elect threatens to take the world’s second-biggest emitter out of the Paris Agreement. Israel’s war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to cast dark shadows on diplomatic efforts in Azerbaijan.

Then there’s the internal issues. The hosting of the third climate COP in a petrostate is eroding confidence in the UNFCCC process. Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev struck a surprisingly combative tone during his opening speech yesterday, when he called fossil fuels a “gift from God” and denounced the hypocrisy of Western leaders criticising his country’s gas expansion.

Against this backdrop, and pervasive whataboutery, hope for keeping global heating under 1.5C and averting climate catastrophe is looking scant. 

“What on Earth are we doing, gathering over and over and over if there is no political will on the horizon to go beyond words and unite for meaningful action?” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said earlier today, in a soul-searching speech to fellow world leaders.

There is no doubt that COP is a polluted, compromised space – not unduly denounced by Greta Thunberg and other climate activists as a “greenwashing conference” where fossil fuel lobbyists roam the halls. 

But it is also a congregation of experts dedicating their lives to making a difference. On the ground in Baku, Euronews has been catching up with climate campaigners fighting hard for the best possible outcome at COP29. Here’s what’s keeping them going.

‘People do show up even in the darkest times’: Why one prominent climate activist is at COP

German climate activist Luisa Neubauer played a leading role in organising the Fridays for Future movement in 2018. Six years on, she’s a long way from that impactful moment when the school strikes pushed climate action onto the political agenda in Europe.

“There are moments when acceleration is possible,” she reflects. “When we have reached social tipping points, when suddenly – like in 2019 – elections are being won through the climate. And there are times like these, where it’s harder to see the hope, where it’s easier to fall for cynicism.” 

So what brings her to COP29, even in an unpromising year?

“We’re at a crossroads. And the fossil fuel industry is very aware. And so they’re bringing the cavalry to this place,” Neubauer tells Euronews. “So if we as activists don’t show up here, we’re giving even more space to those lobbyists and their befriended governments.”

Despite the 1.5C goal slipping out of sight, the 28-year-old activist emphasises that the target is much more than just a temperature line. “It’s a promise that we as a global community give to the world and the future and the most vulnerable people around the world. 

“And that promise says, we’re watching and we’re caring and we’re giving it everything we can. And we’re fighting for every centigrade that we can fight for. And that promise is very well alive. And these halls are a testament to that because people do show up even in the darkest times.”

Veteran climate campaigner on keeping the pressure on big polluters

Asad Rehman, executive director of global charity War on Want, is a passionate voice for climate justice.

The science is clear that fossil fuels must remain in the ground, he says. But, Rehman tells Euronews, “messages to the Global South to cut their fossil fuels while there’s massive expansion in the US and Canada and Australia, the UK and the European Union send totally the wrong signal.”

It’s an important rebuttal to Global North leaders – as well as those tempted to be fatalistic about emissions in developing countries and slip into cynicism or shy away from climate action closer to home.

And it underlines the need for adequate climate finance to enable all countries to speed up their clean energy transitions. 

“No country is right to carry on expanding,” Rehman adds, following Aliyev’s speech. “The only way everybody moves is if you know that it’s done fairly. And [Aliyev’s] right that the signals need to happen from the very, very big polluters, those that have been polluting for over 100 years. 

“And so what the United States does, what the European Union does, what the UK does, matters because that sends a signal.” 

How are climate campaigners protesting at COP29?

For those wanting to add their voices to a chorus of conscience – both inside and outside COP – Saturday 16 November is the annual global day of action for climate justice.

“This is another COP in an authoritarian petrostate, which makes it very hard to organise around it,” says Neubauer. “And yet, miraculously, we find people do actually protest here.”

As at all COPs, protests in the inner ‘blue zone’ must adhere to UN rules. 

As the summit kicked off on Monday 11 November, protesters held a demonstration at the venue calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Saturday’s march is likely to unite these and other human rights issues, as in Dubai during COP28 last year.  

“Obviously we’re aware of the human rights situation in the country, which is a disaster, frankly,” Neubauer adds.