Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

Image source, Getty Images

Negotiations are ongoing while a fight rages over what to put on the formal agenda of this summit - remember that there are nearly 200 countries taking part in the UN climate conference and they all have to agree on priorities.

But while they continue into the night-time here (we're four hours ahead), here's what happened on the first day of COP29 in the Azerbaijani capital:

• Thousands of politicians, negotiators, scientists and activists poured into the Olympic Stadium in Baku as they try to agree on next steps on tackling climate change
• The US climate envoy, John Podesta, (who is working for Joe Biden while he is still president) said for people who care about climate action, Donald Trump's election was "bitterly disappointing" but that the US work would carry on with "passion and belief"
• The UN's World Meteorological Organisation announced that this year is on track to be the warmest on record, as between January and September the global average temperature rise was around 1.54C above those of the late 19th Century

• And countries argued behind the scenes about whether to discuss moving away from fossil fuels, as agreed at COP last year. Nations that rely on fossil fuels are thought to be trying to limit this meeting and instead talk only about cash

We've got two weeks to go until the talks wrap up and our teams in London and Baku will be keeping you updated throughout. We'll be back for more tomorrow - as world leaders arrive to give speeches about their country's promises on tackling climate change.

Until then, I hope we'll discover a way through the rabbit warren that is this COP venue (and some cheaper sandwiches).

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

US political power has dominated the last three COPs. Former climate envoy John Kerry’s relationship with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua saw deals get over the line.

But that window is rapidly closing. Today, the new US envoy John Podesta put on a brave face, calling out president-elect Donald Trump's view that climate change is a hoax. He said the US team here, working under President Joe Biden's direction, will continue to work hard.

But everyone in Baku can see the writing on the wall - Trump will call the shots for the next four years so any US promises made here could be torn up in just over two months.

Podesta talked about continuing to work on the deal passed at COP28 last year - but I notice he did not mention "transitioning away from fossil fuels", a core part of the agreement.

Perhaps an insight into the fights going on behind the scenes in these talks.

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter in Baku

Image source, Reuters

UN climate summits are one of the few events where every country on the planet is represented. But there is a notable absence of world leaders at this year's COP - China, India and the United States are not sending their presidents and prime ministers.

Although some leaders may not come, their governments and civil servants are still here in full force undertaking the nitty gritty of negotiations.

It is perhaps no surprise that US President Joe Biden is a no show after his party lost the US election last week to Donald Trump. If his administration were to pledge anything at this year's COP it could well be undone in just a few short months by the incoming president.

But key European leaders - such as France, Germany and the EU Commission - are also not coming.

Whilst others have stayed away there have been some surprise arrivals. Afghanistan's Taliban government is said to be here - this is the first major international event it will have attended since coming to power.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also invited, as are all world leaders, Azerbaijan is very much of the Kremlin's allies, but he has shunned these conferences in the past so his appearance would certainly raise eyebrows.

Riley Farrell
BBC Future

Image source, Getty Images

Staying on whales, and how their ecosystems are impacted by climate change, let's take a look back through the history of commercial whaling in the 20th Century - when it hit humpback whale populations hard.

In the 1980s, there were fewer than 1,000 humpbacks left in the North Pacific.

Since then, humpbacks have been in recovery, thanks to an international ban on commercial whaling, as well as national interventions to protect the species.

In the North Pacific's Salish Sea, humpback whale populations have been steadily recovering from their historic low.

But now, a new threat looms over this story of revival: climate change. As global temperatures rise, whales' breeding and feeding patterns will be disrupted – leaving scientists scrambling to understand its knock-on effects.

• Read our full story on why humpbacks' revival is under threat from climate change.

Image source, Reuters

A hyper-realistic model of a dead whale has been set up on an embankment outside the COP29 venue in Baku this year, attracting the attention from passers-by and visitors.

It's an installation by Belgium art collective Captain Boomer, of a life-sized sperm whale.

Their website describes it as a metaphor "for the disruption of our ecological system".

It has previously appeared around the world in different places, to stimulate discussion over pollution and the environment.

Francis Agustin
BBC Future

Image source, Serenity Strull/Getty Images

When it comes to solving climate change, every word counts.

The work of translators is often overlooked when world leaders and negotiators meet to discuss climate action. But their gruelling work and tough choices help keep the talks flowing.

Jianjun Chen has worked at the UN for 14 years and translated multiple agreements from the UN climate talks into Mandarin.

"Translation becomes our universal language, bridging understanding and fostering collaboration, ensuring that every voice resonates in this vital dialogue," Chen says.

As countries gather in Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29, Chen and other translators are hard at work prepping translations for a slew of climate documents. The words and phrases included in these agreements could shape the way people around the world talk about climate change for the next few decades.

From complex scientific terms to dead metaphors, translators told me why the climate talks are so hard to translate – you can read the full story here.

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

To get away from the formal speeches, I went to the part of COP where countries and organisations build pavilions to host events and lobby.

At what is always my favourite stand at these talks - the Children and Youth pavilion - I met 16-year-old Carissa Chen. She's from the US and took two overnight flights to Baku with a group of high school children called 'It’s Our Future'.

"I have seen the impacts of climate change and I've learned about them since I was small, since I was like five or six years old," and that's one of the reasons why she wanted to come to Azerbaijan.

So far, the 16-year-old has been inspired by talks.

"This was my first day here and just seeing the environment and seeing people interacting and talking with a bunch of other delegates and pavilions has given me a lot of hope," she says.

And what is her message to other teenagers who care about climate change but may not be able to come to climate talks?

"Education is key," she tells me, adding: "It's really important for all of the youth to understand the gravity of this climate crisis and not to be stressed about it".

We've just been hearing from John Podesta, the US climate envoy and a key White House adviser. Speaking from Baku as this year's UN climate summit gets under way, here's what he had to say:

• Podesta opened remarks by referring directly to the recent US election - won by Donald Trump
• The climate envoy says that while the incoming administration might put climate change "on the back burner", work to tackle it will continue in the US with "commitment and passion and belief"

• He says Washington is working on a deal passed last year in Dubai - to triple renewable power by 2030
• Asked about China's role in climate talks, Podesta says that as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Beijing has an obligation to contribute to fixing climate change
• Moving on to greenhouse gases, the climate envoy says his team have put in place "a number of rules" on methane

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

Image source, Getty Images

Our colleague Justin Rowlatt asks whether there is a role for China to take leadership here in Baku.

"As the world's largest emitter they have an obligation to come forward with a 1.5C-aligned all greenhouse gas, economy-wide NDC," Podesta says, talking about China's climate action plan.

"It is incumbent that they come forward," he says.

Remember, China is currently the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, though it has not been the biggest contributor historically.

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

Image source, Reuters

A journalist who says America's role is diminished during this year's COP, following last week's elections, goes on to ask the US climate envoy about Washington's plans while in Baku.

To which Podesta replies: "We've been working very hard with the COP presidency on a range of issues. Tomorrow we are co-hosting a summit tomorrow with China and Azerbaijan a summit on methane."

The US climate envoy says they are working on building on the deal passed last year in Dubai, on tripling renewable power by 2030.

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

Podesta says it’s clear the incoming US administration will try to make a U-turn and reverse climate progress made during Joe Biden's administration.

But he reassures those in the room here in Baku that "work will continue in the country".

He lists the growing renewable power in the country, as a result he says of the Inflation Reduction Act deal passed by President Biden.

"Are we facing new headwinds, absolutely, but we will revert to the energy system of the 1950s? No way.

"We will continue to work together here at COP29 with our partners", he adds, pointing out that Biden and Harris are in power until January.

As a reminder, you can follow what he's saying by clicking Watch live button at the top of our page.

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter at Baku

Image source, Reuters

"For those of us dedicated to climate action, the election was bitterly disappointing, particularly because of the unprecedented resource that Biden and Harris brought to the fight," John Podesta, the US climate envoy, says in this press conference.

He talks about President Joe Biden re-joining the Paris agreement, after Trump left when he was last president.

The election is "more difficult to tolerate as the dangers we face become more catastrophic", he says.

"His relationship to climate change is captured by the words hoax," he says about Trump, but adds that "none of this is a hoax, it is real".

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

I'm in a press conference where we're hearing from the US climate envoy, John Podesta. All the journalists in here are hoping he will say something about what the US can do at this COP now that Donald Trump has been elected President.

Trump won't take power until January but he's a known climate sceptic and has said he wants the US to leave the landmark Paris deal.

At the past few summits, deals have only been possible when the US and China climate representatives have talked head-to-head.

But that was under the previous US envoy John Kerry, who has now handed over to John Podesta. Mr Podesta is an experienced Washington DC operative and worked for President Barack Obama on climate policy. His Chinese counter-part, Liu Zhenmin, is also new.

Will John Podesta say something about China?

Justin Rowlatt
Climate editor in Baku

"An army marches on its stomach" it is claimed Napoleon once said, and the same is true of a climate conference.

But as hungry delegates, activists and – yes, us journalists too – trooped into the huge food hall here at COP29 we were astonished by the prices.

My colleague Aygul Mehman, a journalist with the BBC’s Azerbaijani service, was charged 41 AZN (the Azerbaijani currency) for her modest lunch of soup, a bean salad and a dry roll. That’s about £18 ($24).

"It’s like they are taking money from our pockets," one delegate told me as we were queuing up.

This is a serious issue. Delegates from poorer nations often complain about how much these big conferences cost them when you add in flights and hotels and the total can come to many thousands of pounds.

That is another hurdle making it harder for developing countries to take part in what should be a global forum.

And in case you’re wondering, I just had soup.

As COP29 kicks off in Baku today, let's take a look inside the event.

Delegates representing nearly 200 countries are in the Azerbaijani capital, where one of the focuses will be how to limit long-term global temperature rises to 1.5C from reducing carbon emissions to supporting small island nations as global sea levels continue to rise.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Mukhtar Babayev, who assumed his place as COP29 president this morning, is Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources.

He takes over from UAE technology minister Dr Sultan al-Jaber, who presided over COP28 in Dubai last year.

Babayev spent 26 years at Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas company Socar in a variety of roles, before taking up his political post in 2018.

Azerbaijan has been ruled by President Ilham Aliyev since 2003. He secured his latest term in 2024 in an election which Western observers said fell short of democratic standards.

Under Aliyev's rule, Azerbaijan has sought to increase its international profile - including hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, the Baku European Games in 2015, and holding some football matches at the 2020 Euros tournament.

Image source, Reuters

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

Image source, Getty Images

Believe it or not, the UN climate talks in Dubai last year were the first ever to agree that countries should "transition away" from fossil fuels.

It sounds like UN jargon, but the deal was celebrated as historic by many because it finally addressed the role that oil, coal and gas play in driving up global temperatures. It was vague, though, without any deadlines or specifics.

And what’s happened since then?

In good news - a massive growth in renewable electricity, such as wind and solar. The International Energy Agency, external (IEA) now predicts that the amounts of electricity generated from solar alone will quadruple from 2023 levels by 2030. At current rates, we will still fall short of a promise to triple all renewable power by 2030 - but it will be close, growing 2.7 times instead, the IEA says.

But fossil fuels still have not peaked. The US has increased its production of oil compared to last year. The use of coal is at record levels, forecasted to be 8.7 billion tonnes for the year, according to the IEA.

Thirst for energy is growing faster than we can build renewable power, some of it driven by our use of data centres and artificial intelligence.

Two-thirds of that increase in global demand was met by fossil fuels last year, according to the IEA. But importantly, the share of the global supply of energy from fossil fuels is falling and renewables are growing.

Yes, and no.

While the UN has just held a Conference of the Parties (COP) summit in Colombia, that one was quite different from this one.

The meeting in the city of Cali earlier this month was the UN biodiversity summit, where scientists and policy-makers met for talks on what can be done to preserve it.

Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth - including animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms like bacteria.

Together they provide the planet with everything necessary for survival, including fresh water, clean air, food and medicines. Biodiversity matters because humans cannot get these benefits from individual species - a rich variety of living things must work together in tandem as part of an ecosystem.

Plants, for example, are very important for improving our physical environment: cleaning the air, limiting rising temperatures and providing protection against climate change.

Image source, Getty Images

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter in Baku

Despite its name, Baku’s Olympic Stadium has never held an Olympic Games - but you might remember it from UEFA Euro 2020. Inside, huge tents and temporary walkways have been built for this year's UN climate summit, so it's actually impossible to tell you're inside a stadium.

It feels like a maze - government delegation offices with flags, NGO pavilions with swag (lots of tote bags), as well as large plenary rooms where the decisions are made.

If you step outside, you see the huge curved white walls of the building - lit up at night with the colours of the Azerbaijani flag. We found one short-cut to the media centre by walking under a road bridge where we think the Wales men's football team walked to play the Euro 2020 opener against Switzerland.

Yesterday, there were rows and rows of potted plants there, presumably waiting to adorn the many meetings rooms.

Somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people are expected to attend this COP - much smaller than the nearly 90,000 in Dubai last year.

The numbers are swelling this morning as delegates from around the world land - we’ll bring you stories of people travelling from the most vulnerable parts of the planet, here to try to secure a liveable future for their homes.

Mark Poynting
Climate and environment researcher

Image source, Getty Images

As well as the news that this year will likely be the warmest on record, today’s report by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization has other worrying findings:

• Oceans are heating up more quickly. In 2023, the oceans stored more heat than any time on record

• Glacier melt is increasing. The amount of ice lost by the world’s glaciers in 2023 was the highest since measurements began in 1953
• Sea level rise is accelerating. From 2014-2023, global average sea levels rose by 4.77mm (0.19in) per year - double the rate between 1993 and 2002
• Sea ice is shrinking. In 2024, the yearly minimum sea-ice extent in Antarctica and the Arctic was respectively the second lowest and seventh lowest since we've been able to monitor this with satellites.

While concerning, these findings are in line with what climate scientists have been warning for many years.