The United Nations’ annual climate conference continued Wednesday with brief speeches by nations big and small

The climate talks often have the star power of a soccer World Cup, but many big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent. That includes the top leaders of the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries.

The 2024 summit in Azerbaijan comes amid fresh reports showing that global warming levels are accelerating, bringing more intense climate-related disasters and an increased demand for funding to mitigate and protect communities from the effects of climate change.

BAKU (Reuters) -World leaders are speaking at the U.N. climate summit in Baku on Tuesday where United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has told them to "pay up" to prevent climate-led humanitarian disasters.

COP29, this year's biggest environmental conference, is now underway. Here is how leaders from around the world are coming together to advance global climate efforts.