2 weeks Ago By Holly Patrick
Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelensky are among world leaders to address the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference ( COP29 ) on Tuesday, 12 November. Diplomats have travelled to Azerbaijan to negotiate money needed to deal with climate crisis following a year of devastating weather extremes and record heat waves. The climate conference began on Monday in Baku with stark warnings about the deteriorating state of the planet and an undercurrent of anxiety over Donald Trump ’s return to the White House .
The president-elect’s campaign team has indicated Mr Trump would withdraw the US — the world’s second biggest polluter — from the landmark Paris Agreement, which he also did during his last term. This year, the Taliban are among those attending the conference. The prime minister has “no plans” to meet the militant group at Cop29 , Downing Street has confirmed.
The Taliban has been invited to the talks to “potentially participate in periphery discussion and potentially hold bilateral meetings”, according to a diplomatic source. This comes despite the UN not recognising the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate leaders. A Number 10 spokesperson said Sir Keir has “no plans to meet with them”, adding that attendance is a “matter for the organisers”.
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