The great Commission puzzle: Who we think will get each portfolio
Ursula von der Leyen is about to hand out key jobs in her team. Hereโs POLITICOโs version of the next Commission.
COP29
MEPs gear up for COP29 climate negotiations
Hello, and welcome to the Green Brief, which brings you a roundup of energy and environment news from across Europe. We are freshening up the Green Briefโs format โ let us know what you think via digital@euractiv.com.ย
Climate finance: EU mulls how to make China step up
Ahead of the upcoming world climate conference, the EU will continue to insist that China and other large emitting countries pay their fair share of climate finance โ but how remains subject to discussion.
EU condemns Azerbaijan crackdown after peace activist charged with โtreasonโ
Bahruz Samadov was detained just months before the South Caucasus country hosts critical U.N. climate talks.
Azerbaijan launches bid to join BRICS after Putin visit
Russian leader met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev this week.
British MPs appeal to Azerbaijan government to free detained academic
In letter to Ilham Aliyev, campaigners urge release of Gubad Ibadoghlu after pre-trial process halted indefinitelyA group of British MPs have called on the Azerbaijan government to free an academic from the London School of Economics and Political Scie…
Wary of Trump, Azerbaijan, businesses shun COP climate talks
Companies are anxiously wondering: Can we get hotel rooms? What about the autocratic regime hosting? What if Trump wins?
How โworldโs first oil townโ is wrestling with fossil fuel legacy
Cop29 host Baku has cleaned up since its Black City days โ but this summit needs to do more than whitewash the facade of a petrostateJust a few miles from the site of the next UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, is a district that for more than …
Azerbaijan leader vows to support French territories against โcolonial ruleโ
President Ilham Aliyev’s comment come against the backdrop of unprecedently high tensions between Paris and Baku.
Cop29 host Azerbaijan seeks $1bn from fossil fuel producers for climate fund
Countries and companies involved in oil and gas extraction to be asked to join scheme aimed at tackling global heatingFossil-fuel producing countries and companies are being asked to pay into a new international fund to help poor countries cope with th…
Fossil fuel extraction compatible with climate action, says COP29 host Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani presidency made that claim while presenting a flurry of initiatives for the Baku summit.
Environment ministers in Budapest: Whatโs on the agenda
Today and tomorrow (11 and 12 July) the Hungarian Presidency will host an informal meeting of Environment Ministers in Budapest, where they will discuss COP29, the circular economy’s potential to boost competitiveness and water scarcity.
Azerbaijan to start climate fund with $500mn of oil money
COP29 host intends to launch venture with a contribution from state company
Journalists refused entry to Azerbaijan energy conference ahead of Cop29
Incident reignites concerns over crackdown on media before crucial UN climate talks in Baku later this yearWestern journalists were refused entry to an energy industry conference in Azerbaijan earlier this month, reigniting concerns over the stateโs cr…
LEAK: Hungaryโs agenda for the Environment, Energy and Transport Council meetings
Euractiv has seen the Hungarian EU presidency’s detailed plans for the Environment, Energy and Transport Council meetings in the second half of 2024, which outline when Budapest plans to advance individual existing legislative proposals, agree a COP29 …
Russia accuses France of fomenting war in the Caucasus with arms sale
Paris, meanwhile, believes that providing weapons to Armenia reduces the likelihood of further attacks from Azerbaijan.
EU climate dialogue with China affirms focus on climate finance goal past 2025
The fifth EU-China high-level environment and climate dialogue, which took place in Brussels on 18 June, served to highlight Beijing’s concerns in the face of clean-tech trade restrictions and emphasise that agreement on climate finance would be crucia…
EU wants Azerbaijan to fuel Russian gas pipeline in Ukraine
The bloc had previously said it would let a Ukrainian gas transit deal with Russia expire at the year’s end.
Azerbaijanโs civil society crackdown intensifies ahead of COP29
As Baku prepares to host COP29, the largest international climate summit, the Azerbaijani government has ramped up its crackdown on the remaining vestiges of its civil society.
US assures Europe: Weโll keep sending you gas, we promise
Joe Biden’s decision to pause new LNG projects rattled Europe, which is increasingly reliant on the US product.
Cop29 at a crossroads in Azerbaijan with focus on climate finance
Fossil-fuel dependent country hopes to provide bridge between wealthy global north and poor south at November gatheringOil is inescapable in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The smell of it greets the visitor on arrival and from the shores of the Caspi…
France accuses Azerbaijan of fomenting deadly riots in overseas territory New Caledonia
State of emergency has been declared in the Pacific Ocean archipelago after four people were killed in the worsening violence.
Ukraine reicht geplantes Milliardenpaket nicht
Das Briefing dazu, wie sich Entscheidungen in Brรผssel auf Sie auswirken. Mit dem Wissen des grรถรten Newsrooms der europรคischen Hauptstadt. Im Browser anzeigen oder hier anhรถren von JรRGEN KLรCKNER Mit LAURA HรLSEMANN und JULIUS BRINKMANN DIE TOP-THEMEN โ Ukraine fordert mehr Hilfen: Justizminister Maljuska kritisiert im POLITICO-Interview die Entscheidung der EU, nur die Zinseinnahmen auf [โฆ]
Good COP, bad COP: Azerbaijanโs climate charm offensive is backfiring
Hosting the prestigious U.N. talks is drawing unwanted attention to the oil-and-gas-rich nationโs foreign influence networks and political crackdowns.
Cop29 summit to call for peace between warring states, says host Azerbaijan
Organisers of this yearโs environmental conference hope cooperation on green issues could help ease global tensions This yearโs Cop29 UN climate summit will be the first โCop of peaceโ, focusing on the prevention of future climate-fuelled conflicts and…
Azerbaijan president: COP29 wonโt stop us investing in โgod-givenโ gas
President Ilham Aliyev used a Berlin climate speech to push for major foreign investments to boost its natural gas exports to Europe.
No more โbusiness as usualโ in climate fight, UN boss warns โslippingโ politicians
UN’s Simon Stiell uses event in London to warn politicians against downgrading climate policy.
Tony Blair seeks climate role at COP29 in Azerbaijan
The former PM’s interest highlights the contradictions for the powerbrokers and consultants running U.N. climate talks.
Putin, Kim, Assad and their most fantastical election wins
If you don’t win more than 90 percent of the votes, you’re not doing it right.
Newly elected leaders to be held to same climate obligations, says Cop29 chief
Exclusive: Incoming UN summit president calls on governments to stay on track, as majority of global population go to the pollsAt Cop29 bridges must be built between the diverging north and south to keep 1.5C in reachThe governments that assume power a…
[Opinion] COP29 host Azerbaijan escapes Munich Security scrutiny
The global struggle against unfair and fraudulent elections, evident in Azerbaijan’s recent snap presidential election, is missing from the Munich Security Report released this week, ahead of the international security conference.
War, money, politics: Discord among wealthy countries hampers landmark climate fund
Squabbles involving the EU, Russia, Turkey and the United States are holding up the launch of a board that’s supposed to oversee aid to communities wracked by disasters.
Azerbaijani president on track for 94 percent landslide in tainted election
The vote comes just months after Ilham Aliyev declared victory in the decades-old Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Women added to Cop29 climate summit committee after backlash
Panel was originally composed of 28 men, a move condemned as โregressiveโ and โshockingโThe president of Azerbaijan has added 11 women to the previously all-male organising committee for the Cop29 global climate summit, which the country will host in D…
Azerbaijan appoints no women to 28-member Cop29 climate committee
Campaigners condemn decision as regressive, saying โclimate change affects whole world, not half of itโThe organising committee for the Cop29 global climate change summit in Azerbaijan in December comprises 28 men and no women, the president of Azerbai…
The Brief โ Venues of COP are not top
Holding the presidency of a UN climate summit gives the host country huge influence on its agenda and outcomes. If you thought Dubai was a bad venue for COP28, here comes COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, another petrostate. COP is the…
Azerbaijan gets nod to host COP29 climate summitย
Russia and geopolitical tensions had left the 2024 conference in limbo for months.
Another oil state hosting climate summit? Azerbaijan clears hurdle
Petro-state Azerbaijan has cleared a key hurdle to host next year’s UN climate summit despite the controversy over COP28 taking place in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.
Eastern European nations pave way for Baku to host COP29
Azerbaijani capital set to hold next climate summit after Bulgaria drops own bid in face of Russian bar on EU members
Azerbaijanโs path to COP29 clear after Bulgaria drops bid
The oil-rich country’s candidacy to host next yearโs climate summit still requires formal approval.ย
Another win for oil states? Azerbaijan gets boost in bid to host next climate talks.
The petroleum-rich country received a surprise endorsement from its arch-rival Armenia.
Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to take steps towards normalisation
Arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan said Thursday (7 December) they would exchange prisoners of war and work towards normalising their relations, in a joint statement hailed by the EU as a “breakthrough”. The Caucasus neighbours have been lock…