COP29 live: ‘Time is not on our side’ says COP29 presenter as UN climate talks teeter on collapse

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter in Baku

Image source, Reuters

As we’ve said a few times, it’s manic around here and I’m aware we’ve been throwing acronyms at you left, right and centre.

So a quick overview of how these conversations work.

All countries of the world are present and negotiating the best outcome for their people.

But power is in numbers.

So many countries come together and agree on a common position on something, and negotiate as a group.

And there are many different groups.

The European Union is one of them, but the largest and perhaps most powerful group here is one called the G77+China.

This is the group of the world’s developing countries, and is now much larger than 77 countries – but that was the number that were in the group when it first started.

Another is AOSIS – that is the group of small island states.

They negotiate together because they have a common shared experience of being at the forefront of climate change, especially rising sea levels.