Businesses are reportedly planning to either skip or send smaller delegations to this year’s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. This reverses the trend from previous COPs, which saw an increasing presence of the private sector. Dubai’s COP28 saw record levels of participation from businesses. According to reporting from POLITICO, there are practical and policy concerns for the private sector. There are concerns about the cap on the number of people that can attend the summit (attendance has been limited to 40,000), getting accommodation and accessing the venue, which is on the outskirts of Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. There are also concerns that climate-sceptic Donald Trump could win the American presidential election, which takes place days before the summit. Instead, businesses may opt to participate in Climate Week, which will be held in New York in September, and the biodiversity conference COP16 which will be held in Colombia in October. Vice President for Business Engagement for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions Verena Radulovic, said the shift away from COP comes down to climate messaging. “Companies are beginning to realise that while COP is valuable, there are other ways in which they can also demonstrate their climate leadership,” Radulovic said.
