An annual United Nations climate change conference has kicked off in Azerbaijan amid uncertainties over United States cooperation follow ing Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.

The COP29 meeting began in Baku on Monday.

At the start of the conference, Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 president and Azerbaijan's ecology and natural resources minister, said, "Climate change is already here." He also said, "COP29 is the unmissable moment to chart a new path forward for everyone." He stressed that the international community should unite to fulfil an ambitious goal.

A major topic on the agenda will be finance targets from 2025 for developed countries to help developing nations address climate change, as well as how those contributions should be shouldered.

Earlier this month, Donald Trump won the US presidential election. He has advocated that the country pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The US is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

A representative from the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros said the situation would be very difficult without the US.

An official from Finland said he is worried about Trump's stance. He said he does not know whether funds can be found to replace the US contributions. He argued that the participants should seek funds also from emerging countries.

COP29 will continue through November 22.

Amid Uncertainty

Delegates from more than 190 countries and territories are expected to attend the meeting known as COP29. The conference is scheduled to continue through November 22.

A major topic on the agenda will be how much funding developed countries should provide to developing nations annually from 2025 to help them address climate change. Another focus will be how the financial contributions should be shouldered.

The participants are also expected to discuss new greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2035. Countries are required to submit their plans to the UN by next February.

Leaders from about 100 countries and territories will join summit-level meetings slated to begin on Tuesday. They will likely include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

It remains unclear whether the United States, the second largest emitter of planet-warming gases, will continue to work with other nations to tackle climate change.

President-elect Trump is believed to be planning to pull his country out of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The pact aims to limit the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Analysts are concerned that Trump winning a second term as US president may further complicate negotiations at COP29.