The battle who pays how much to fund the switch from fossil fuels, what to do about nuclear power, and who hosts Cop31 are key questions

The UN climate talks in Azerbaijan, scheduled to finish Friday local time, are dragging into the weekend as delegates from nearly 200 countries struggle to reach a consensus on the key issues being debated: a new global climate finance goal and what needs to be done about fossil fuels.

But what is happening in Baku matters, no matter how frustrating a process and inadequate an outcome it may seem. Here’s why.