Petro will not go to COP29: he suspended his trip to Azerbaijan due to ‘climate collapse’

President Gustavo Petro suspended, This Saturday, November 9, the trip that was going to take next week to Azerbaijan to participate in the UN Climate Conference (COP29), due to the floods in the department of Chocó.

(See: Chingaza System breaks downward streak, but it still would not be enough).

COP29 will be held from November 11 to 22 in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, with the aim of discussing strategies to confront climate change and Petro was among the confirmed leaders.

“I have suspended my trip to Azerbaijan for COP29 due to climate collapse. The emergency will be declared and with the limited resources we have we will face the first aid and the relocation of the climate victims in Chocó“said the president on his X account.

The governor of Chocó, Nubia Carolina Córdoba, He said this Saturday that in that department it has been raining non-stop for 72 hours, which has raised the water levels of the rivers.

(See: This is how the reservoirs behaved in October).

“They have reported damage to us in 85% of the territory, 25 of our municipalities are dealing with overflows, floods and landslides. The water is in the houses and has taken away wax (sic) and crops“wrote the governor in X.

Córdoba added that Floods occur mainly in the Atrato and San Juan river basins, where also the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) ordered an ‘armed strike’ starting that same Saturday.

The official asked Petro and Vice President Francia Márquez for help to face the floods and said to them: “Let’s not wait for a tragedy to react in time and articulately. This panorama absolutely exceeds local capacity“.

For its part, The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) indicated that in Chocó there are 16,819 affected families in the municipalities of Alto Baudó, Riosucio, Litoral de San Juan, Atrato, Bagadó, Bahía Solano, Bajo Baudó and Carmen del Darién.

(See: Rain forecast: until when will it rain in Bogotá and other regions of the country?).

In the absence of Petro at the climate COP29, It is likely that the Colombian delegation at that meeting will be led by the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad, who last month was president and host of the COP16 on Biodiversity held in Cali.

EFE