THE HEADS of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said they would work with the incoming US president, Republican Donald J. Trump, underscoring the importance of private sector funding for developing countries hit by climate change.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva told a panel during the United Nations (UN) Conference of the Parties (COP29) climate summit in Azerbaijan that the global lender had worked with Mr. Trump during his previous term and looked forward to doing so again. “They have a mandate from the American people,” she said.

Asked about the impact of Mr. Trump’s election on the IMF’s climate work, Ms. Georgieva said she was confident that the US private sector would continue to invest in green technologies. “It is the business proposition to stay ahead of the curve, and I have no doubt that this will continue,” she said.

The election of Mr. Trump, who is expected to pull the United States back from global efforts to fight climate change, has raised questions about the ability of the IMF and the World Bank — the US is the largest shareholder in both — to ramp up funding for countries around climate-related issues.

This year’s COP29 summit is focused on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a global transition to cleaner energy sources and limit the climate damage caused by carbon emissions by the world’s largest countries, including the US.

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, said Mr. Trump’s historical win, which demanded respect, highlighted the bank’s work to become more efficient and effective, while encouraging increasing private investment in climate finance. “He’s going to have opinions. We’re going to talk to him. That’s our job,” he said, noting that during his 17 months at the bank, political leadership had also changed in the bank’s four other biggest donors — Germany, France, Japan and Britain.

Mr. Trump, who shuns multilateralism, has promised massive tariff increases on Chinese goods and other imports as part of his America First agenda.

The conservative Republican Project 2025 agenda, from which Mr. Trump has distanced himself, calls for US withdrawal from the IMF and World Bank to pursue only bilateral development and financial aid in line with US interests.

Mr. Trump has publicly taken aim at the United Nations and the World Health Organization and the New York Times reported last week that his transition team was preparing executive orders to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. He has not specifically targeted the IMF or World Bank thus far.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of UAE green energy group Masdar, said the United States remained a key market, despite changes in political leadership, and the company would continue expanding its footprint there.

“A lot of red states in the US… deploy a lot of renewables. They are very supportive of energy, so we don’t really see any impact, honestly,” he said, referring to Republican-controlled states. — Reuters

BAKU — Global carbon dioxide  (CO2) emissions, including those from burning fossil fuels, are set to hit a record high this year, pulling the world further off course from averting more destructive climate extremes, scientists said on Wednesday.

The Global Carbon Budget report, published during the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP29) climate summit in Azerbaijan, said global CO2 emissions are set to total 41.6 billion metric tons in 2024, up from 40.6 billion tons last year.

The bulk of these emissions are from burning coal, oil and gas. Those emissions would total 37.4 billion tons in 2024, up by 0.8% in 2023, the report said.

The rest are from land use, a category that includes deforestation and forest fires. The report by more than 80 institutions was led by the University of Exeter in Britain.

“We don’t see a sign of fossil fuel emissions peaking in 2024,” said lead author Pierre Friedlingstein, a climate scientist at the University of Exeter.

Without immediate and steep emissions cuts worldwide, “we will just go straight into the 1.5° Celsius (1.5C) target, we’ll just pass it and continue,” he said.

Countries agreed under the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to stop global temperatures rising more than 1.5°C (2.7°F) to avoid climate change’s worst impacts.

This would require steep emissions cuts every year from now until 2030 and beyond.

Instead, fossil fuel emissions have climbed over the last decade. Land use emissions had declined in this period — until this year, when a severe drought in the Amazon caused forest fires, driving up annual land use emissions by 13.5% to 4.2 billion tons.

Some scientists have said such slow progress means the 1.5C aim can no longer realistically be met.

This year’s emissions data showed evidence of some countries rapidly expanding renewable energy and electric cars, the authors said.

Progress, however, was sharply uneven — with rich industrialized nations’ emissions decreasing, and emerging economies’ emissions still rising.

Tensions between nations erupted on Tuesday at COP29 over who should lead the world’s transition away from fossil fuels — which produce around 80% of global energy.

COP29 host Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev accused Western countries of hypocrisy for lecturing others while still being major consumers and producers of fossil fuels.

Emissions in the US, the world’s top oil and gas producer and consumer, are expected to decrease by 0.6% this year, while European Union emissions are set to fall by 3.8%.

Meanwhile, India’s emissions will rise by 4.6% this year, driven by soaring power demand fueled by economic growth.

Emissions in China, today the world’s biggest emitter and second-largest oil consumer, are set to marginally increase by 0.2%. The authors said China’s emissions from oil use have likely peaked, as electric vehicles gain market share.

Emissions from international aviation and shipping are also expected to jump by 7.8% this year, as air travel continues to recover from a drop in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. — Reuters