“Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable.” So said President Biden’s climate advisor John Podesta as the international climate negotiations known as COP29 got started Monday. Ironically, the United Nations talks are hosted this year by Azerbaijan, a huge oil and gas exporter, as the Associated Press’ Emma Burrows reports.

The Biden administration tried to project confidence in the early days of COP29, but all signs point to a reduced U.S. role.

No matter what kind of U-turn President-Elect Donald Trump will make on climate change, America's clean energy economy won't reverse into the dirty past, a combative but “bitterly disappointed” top American climate negotiator said Monday.