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The climate problem demands an earnest and cooperative international response, but Baku instead saw the Global North present the Global South with a " "-agree to an inadequate offer of support or risk the collapse of the only international process where it has significant voice and influence. There is now, finally, a deep and widespread understanding of the nature and scale of the international climate finance challenge. The United States has for years worked to eradicate the UN climate framework convention's foundational commitment to equitable burden-sharing based on "common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities," and the Europeans have never roused themselves to object in any effective way. [...]as always, there is the problem of the fossil fuel industry, which cannot be reduced to the problem of the United States, or even the problem of the Global North. The Saudis in particular, with the aid of the Azeri hosts, reportedly did everything in their power to prevent any Baku statement from reiterating COP28's call for "transitioning away" from fossil fuels. [...]it became clear in Baku that, as Laurie can der Berg of Oil Change International astutely commented, many rich countries are actively planning for fossil fuel phaseout failure.