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By Jack Graham [[link removed]] | Deputy Editor, Funded Projects

Deal or no deal

In the Art of the Deal, the best-selling book by Donald Trump, the incoming U.S. president and real estate developer explains his guidelines for deal-making.

Whatever your thoughts on Trump, it seems the world's environmental negotiators could do with some advice on the subject.

Last week, Busan in South Korea held the fifth and final round of negotiations for a global U.N. treaty to tackle plastic pollution. [[link removed]] Only they weren't final. No deal was agreed. Countries will have to resume talks next year.

The same thing happened at U.N. COP16 talks on biodiversity in Cali, Colombia, which had to be suspended. Then at COP29 in Baku [[link removed]], Azerbaijan, a deal was finally reached, but roundly condemned by developing nations.

Spare a thought for the negotiators who've travelled to all three countries in the space of two months. I've heard there are at least a handful. And there's yet another U.N. environmental conference taking place this week on desertification in Saudi Arabia. [[link removed]]

Delegates leave a hall after listening to statements from speakers at COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Can we put the disappointing results down to circumstance? It's not the first time U.N. environmental meetings haven't delivered. And wealthy governments are particularly squeezed for cash at the moment.

Or is multilateralism in trouble? In Baku, distrust brewed between countries. Halfway through, a group of high-profile climate scientists and diplomats called for an overhaul of the COP system [[link removed]], including streamlining attendee numbers and having stricter criteria for hosts.

The "key to success"

Whatever their flaws, COP summits and other negotiations have led to significant progress. The Paris Agreement in 2015, for example, established international climate targets and binds countries to submit climate plans. The 1987 Montreal Protocol slowed down and reversed the depletion of the Ozone layer.

Beyond international agreements, the private sector is transforming itself with unprecedented changes - from the global surge in renewable energy to green finance. But as the impacts of climate change hit harder and become ever more costly, global cooperation has not become any less important.

An environmental activist protests against the use of fossil fuels during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), in Baku, Azerbaijan November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Karimov

Perhaps one of Trump's tips could come in handy. In his book, Trump tells the reader to enhance the location, which is the "key to success".

He, of course, was talking about real estate. But next year, the U.N. COP30 is taking place in Belém, Brazil.

After a succession of COPs in oil-producing states, this means bringing the world's negotiators to the Amazon rainforest.

If that's not an enhanced location, I'm not sure what is.

See you next week,

Jack

This week's top picks In Peru, a gold mining battle rages over registry of "impunity" [[link removed]]

Peru's government wants to regulate an illegal industry destroying nature and trafficking people

Plastic pollution is surging, so what are governments doing? [[link removed]]

As U.N. talks in Canada seek global plastics treaty, research says levels of plastic waste have become unmanageable

‘No-Go’ mining zones can protect nature as renewable energy surges [[link removed]]

Prohibiting mining in key areas can safeguard biodiversity and Indigenous rights in the energy transition

Read all of our coverage here [[link removed]] Editor's pick [[link removed]] COP29 updates: Who pays as the climate crisis deepens? [[link removed]]

Climate finance is the key talking point at COP29 talks in Baku, where UN head Antonio Guterres has said 'the world must pay up.' Our global team examines the issues underpinning the talks in this collection of stories.

[[link removed]]Discover more Nature [[link removed]] Climate Risks [[link removed]] Net Zero [[link removed]] Just Transition [[link removed]] Climate Justice [[link removed]] Green Cities [[link removed]] Thank you for reading!

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