Chair Cardin Calls for Bold Action After COP29 Concludes in Azerbaijan

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the proceedings of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the annual meeting of the Conference of the Parties that have signed on to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC), as well as its presidential selection process.

"Hosting COP carries an obligation to uphold the integrity of the summit and take genuine steps to address the global climate crisis. While the process for reaching decisions and consensus is difficult, the COP president has a duty to serve as an arbiter to reach those decisions. COP29 faced significant challenges and produced contentious outcomes, further compounded by the COP29 Presidency's confrontational approach to hosting and facilitating this year's summit. Azerbaijan's promotion of fossil fuel consumption and its alienation of parties like France at the world's premier conference to address the climate crisis harms the integrity of COP.

"The UNFCCC must seriously consider reforms to its presidential selection process to prevent such clear conflicts of interest. At a minimum, host counties should be required to make binding commitments to Paris Agreement goals, with mechanisms to reassign the presidency if they fail to uphold these responsibilities. Moreover, COP presidents should welcome the full participation of civil society and NGOs rather than question their activities and motives. The United States has taken bold action as evidenced by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. All countries must fulfill their commitments to meet the international challenges posed by climate change."

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