| While hopes are low for COP29 climate negotiations which kick off today, the global decarbonisation drive now has momentum of its own and will continue irrespective of the outcome in Azerbaijan. Last week’s US presidential elections were very different from the COP29 global climate talks, but the feelings were the same: A queasy mix of hope and fear and, underneath it all, a nagging sense of being overwhelmed by forces we are too small to resist. 2024 encapsulates these mixed emotions. It is the year in which we will almost certainly pass the 1.5°C threshold, but also the year in which maybe, just maybe, we manage to peak global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. However, COP29 does not look promising, as few world leaders will attend. There will be no von der Layen, Macron, Schultz, Xi, Modi, or Biden, and it will take place under the shadow of Trump, who has promised to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. But even if this is not a seminal COP, other forces can keep the wind in the sails of climate action. | 
