Bangladesh leader Muhammad Yunus slams rich nations for burning up the planet at UN climate talks

Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Wednesday that world leaders shouldn't be negotiating at United Nations climate talks this year, and countries responsible for warming up the planet should instead just simply provide the funds to deal with the climate crisis.

“Why should there be a negotiation? You are causing the problem, then you solve it,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in Baku, Azerbaijan. “We will raise our voice and tell them it’s your fault, like what we did with colonialism.”

Yunus was chosen to head Bangladesh’s interim government after the nation’s longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled abroad. Her resignation followed intense political turmoil earlier this year, with weeks of protests and clashes with security forces that killed nearly 300 people. Known as the “banker to the poorest of the poor,” Yunus was a longtime critic of Hasina.

Yunus said the climate negotiations, known as COP29, can be “humiliating” for poor countries. Yunus likened the talks to a "fish market" packed with people trying to get the best bargains. “That’s a very wrong perception of the whole thing," he said.