The United Nations' Cop climate talks are no longer fit for purpose and need to be reformed, key experts including a former UN secretary general and former UN climate chief have said.
In a letter to the UN, senior figures say Cop needs an overhaul, and that countries should not host the talks if they don’t support the phasing out of fossil energy.
It follows Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, telling world leaders gathered for Cop29 earlier this week that his country’s oil and gas resources are a “gift from God”.
“As a president of Cop29 of course, we will be a strong advocate for green transition, and we are doing it. But at the same time, we must be realistic,” Mr Aliyev said, addressing nearly 200 world leaders.
“Countries should not be blamed for having [these resources], and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market, because the market needs them. The people need them.”
At last year’s Cop28 in Dubai, all countries agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems.”
Friday’s letter has revealed key experts believe Cop’s current structure cannot deliver change at exponential speed and scale, despite the process having delivered positive change.
The authors are concerned the current Cop process is not able to make change happen quickly or can force countries to act.
This has resulted in a call for a fundamental overhaul.
"Its current structure simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity," said its 22 signatories. They include former UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and former president of Ireland Mary Robinson.
Ms Figueres later said some of the ideas in the letter had been misinterpreted.
"The Cop process is an essential and irreplaceable vehicle for supporting the multilateral, multisectoral, systemic change we urgently need. Now more than ever," she said in a post on LinkedIn.
The letter has outlined suggestions to improve Cop, including “improving the selection process for Cop presidencies”, through exclusion of countries not in support of a transition away from fossil fuels.
Others involved meetings becoming more frequent and solution-driven, where countries report on progress, are “held accountable” in line with the latest science.
