BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — World leaders are converging Tuesday at the annual United Nations climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, although big names and powerful countries are conspicuously absent, unlike previous climate negotiations that had the power of a football World Cup.

But the 2024 climate negotiations are more like the World Chess Federation finals, lacking recognizable names but focused on nerd power and strategy. Top leaders from the 13 largest carbon dioxide polluting countries will not appear, with their countries responsible for more than 70% of heat-trapping gases in 2023.

The biggest polluters and the strongest economies, China and the United States, do not send their No. 1s. The four most populous countries, which represent more than 42% of the world’s population, do not make their leaders speak.

“This is symptomatic of the lack of political will to act. There’s no sense of urgency,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics. He said this explains “the absolute mess we find ourselves in.”

On Tuesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will headline the 50 or so leaders who will speak.

But a strong showing is expected from the leaders of some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. Several presidents of small island nations and more than a dozen leaders of African countries are expected to speak at the two-day World Leaders’ Summit at the COP29 conference.

To show how low the bar for celebrity has been lowered, on Tuesday morning, photographers and video cameras raced alongside an executive walking the halls of the meeting. This was the Minister of Emergency Management of the host country, Azerbaijan.

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