The Baku Paradox An Analysis of Selected Sustainable Development Goals

The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP 29) occurred in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024. A central topic, but not the only one, was linked to Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action). It has been said that COP 29 developed into a ‘climate finance COP’ to have wealthier countries finance actions in the poorer countries to remedy damages from the effect of the increasing emissions of greenhouse gases. The final agreement was far from as ambitious as hoped for. In this study, the discrepancies between the fourteen regions of the countries of the world have been analyzed with a focus on Sustainable Development Goals 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production ), and 13 (Climate Action). The discrepancies between high-income countries (HIC) and OECD countries, on the one hand, and low-income countries (LIC) and Africa are presented. Where LIC and Africa, over the last 24-year period, virtually complied with the climate action goals (SDG 13), the HIC and OECD countries were far behind. A similar discrepancy is noted in sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12). The data shows no indication that the increasing innovation in the HIC and OECD countries is reflected in an increase in sustainable production and consumption or increased compliance with the climate action goals. One of the outcomes of the Baku COP 29 meeting was that wealthier countries should finance the remediation of the increasing effects of global temperature increase on the poorer countries and thus be able to continue without changing their habits.