Ursula von der Leyen to skip UN climate talks

The EU’s top official Ursula von der Leyen has joined a growing list of climate stalwarts planning to give this year’s COP29 conference a miss.

The European Commission confirmed its president would not attend the talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, next week — despite being listed on a schedule of speakers released yesterday.

Von der Leyen is currently trying to install a new set of commissioners and hearings are taking place in the European Parliament throughout this week and next.

A spokesperson for the Commission, Tim McPhie, said this was why she couldn’t get away. “The Commission is in a transition phase and the President will therefore focus on her institutional duties.”

Von der Leyen joins France’s Emmanuel Macron, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, the United States’ Joe Biden, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as leaders of major polluting nations who have styled themselves as global climate leaders and appear to be skipping this year’s edition of the annual talks.

Some of the other confirmed speakers, such as Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, come from the right wing of politics, which is traditionally more skeptical of climate action.

Von der Leyen has been at every U.N. climate talks since she attended COP25 in Madrid on her first day as leader of the EU’s executive branch in 2019.

COP29 is billed as a more minor meeting than others that have preceded it. Attendance is down on all levels.

However if the U.S. election delivers a second Donald Trump presidency on Tuesday, climate advocates hope the talks might send a message of solidarity.

The European Council did not immediately respond to questions regarding the attendance of its president, Charles Michel.