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The comments came on the second day of a summit at which nearly 200 nations are meeting to discuss how they can cut fossil fuel emissions, and moments beforeThe airing of these opposing views on the main stage underscore the challenge at the heart of the: many Western states remain dependent on fossil fuels while at the same time seeking to pressure others who produce them into shifting to greener energy sources.
“Countries should not be blamed for having them, and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market, because the market needs them. The people need them.” The United States is the world’s largest oil and gas producer. European countries, meanwhile, have some of the world’s strictest targets to cut emissions by 2030 — but, at the same time have raced to secure new gas supplies following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This year’s summit is supposed to be focused on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a global transition to cleaner energy sources and limit the climate damage caused by carbon emissions. As COP29 began, unusual east coast US wildfires that triggered air quality warnings for New York continued to grow. In Spain, survivors are coming to terms with the worst floods in the country’s modern history and the Spanish government has announced billions of euros for reconstruction.The summit opened on Monday, November 11, with a technical deal seen as critical to launching a UN-backed global carbon market that would fund billions of dollars of projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.