### Global Elections Further Stall Climate Action Amid Rising Disasters

The extraordinary wave of elections across the globe has revealed a troubling phenomenon: the political will to address the climate crisis is dwindling, even as the world faces worsening natural disasters and record-high temperatures. Dubbed the "biggest election year in human history" by the United Nations, 2024 saw nearly half of the world's voters go to the polls. However, the results have not been favorable for climate action.

In the United States, Donald Trump emerged victorious, re-entering the presidency with his longstanding claim that the climate crisis is "a big hoax." Across the Atlantic, climate-skeptic parties gained significant ground in the European Union elections. In Russia, Vladimir Putin secured another term, continuing to resist sanctions aimed at curtailing Russia’s thriving oil and gas exports. According to Catherine Fieschi, an expert in European politics and populism, "It's quite clear that in most advanced economies, the big loser of the elections has been climate."

The trend of diminished climate focus is paradoxical given the increasing frequency of catastrophic climate events. Just five years ago, global climate activism, spurred by figures like Greta Thunberg, was at its peak. However, recent years marked by the pandemic, conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and widespread inflation have shifted public and political priorities. "It's been the perfect storm," Fieschi explained. "Climate has taken a back seat to inflation and energy prices."

2024 is expected to be the hottest year on record, with severe weather events like floods and heatwaves hitting various parts of the world. Despite this, climate issues have rarely taken center stage in the elections, except in India, where farmer protests due to extreme weather conditions influenced Narendra Modi’s re-election as prime minister.

Rightwing parties in Europe, arguing that climate actions are financially burdensome and unnecessary, performed well in the EU elections. In the US, Trump defeated Kamala Harris by campaigning against environmental regulations and promising to scrap climate policies he dubbed the "green new scam."

This trend isn’t universal, with some exceptions like the UK, where the Labour party triumphed over the Conservatives by prioritizing clean energy. Similarly, the far right faced unexpected defeats in the French parliamentary elections. Even within the EU, centrist parties managed to hold their ground despite the gains made by rightwing factions.

The stalled progress in combating climate change remains concerning. At the recent Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, a noticeable absence of many world leaders further highlighted the waning commitment. This was the third consecutive UN climate summit held in an authoritarian nation, and the second in a petrostate, following Dubai the previous year. Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, controversially praised oil and gas as a "gift of God," while Argentina’s populist leader, Javier Milei, exited the negotiations, fueling speculation about the country’s potential withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

Climate activists have voiced their frustration over the lack of progress in reducing emissions and securing climate finance for vulnerable nations. Gerry Arances, executive director of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, criticized the deficient funding from rich countries, stating that the current atmosphere in Cop29 is akin to being "flooded with many Trumps."

Edi Rama, the prime minister of Albania, also questioned the efficacy of the climate summit in such a context. "What are we doing in this gathering?" he asked, expressing concern over the continued inaction of the world's major polluters.

While there has been some advancement in renewable energy and projections suggesting an imminent peak in oil use, the persistent delays and potential implications of another Trump presidency have significantly diminished optimism. Jan-Werner Müller, a political scientist at Princeton University, emphasized, "We are running out of precious time. Every day lost matters now."