PARIS (AP) — One thing is certain for Fabien Galthie’s France this autumn. Nothing is certain.
Since the start of the autumn tests, the coach has not hesitated to leave out established stars, and so far this has worked well. France takes on Argentina in their final test of the year on Friday at Stade de France on the back of victories against Japan and New Zealand.
Stalwart players have been sacrificed this month one after another for the good of the team. Gael Fickou was benched against Japan and Matthieu Jalibert was benched against the All Blacks, then refused to accept it and left the squad. It's Gregory Alldritt's turn to pay the price of Galthie's rotation policy.
The No. 8 was not even in the matchday 23 facing the Pumas after Galthie made four changes.
Galthie reasoned he's trying to create depth and more experience ahead of the Six Nations and more in mind of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
“There is no polemics,” he said.
The players left out, at least Fickou, did not seem to take it personally.
Fickou joked, “I was a bit cold on the bench. That’s what group life is all about. You can’t play every game. There are also some great players in my position who are growing and who have talent. It’s up to me to be good enough to stay here.”
In any case, competition for places is paying dividends. A year after its brokenhearted exit in the quarterfinals of its home Rugby World Cup at the hands of South Africa and following a summer tour of South America marred by off-field controversies, France is back in form.
Beating New Zealand 30-29 last weekend, with talismanic captain Antoine Dupont aboard in his second test of the year, was a statement that France is a serious threat again.
France and the Pumas split a series in Argentina in July, the Pumas winning the last match 33-25. But the Pumas have not beaten Les Tricolores in France for 10 years.
Unlike Galthie, Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi is bidding on continuity since taking charge. His Pumas have thrashed Italy 57-17 and lost to Ireland 22-19. Contepomi has made just one change to his starters, with Gonzalo Garcia at scrumhalf for fresh legs on Friday night.
“It's a real threat looming,” Dupont said. “Looking at what they have been capable of in recent months, there is a real danger. Winning in New Zealand, beating South Africa in the Rugby Championship is no mean feat."
The Pumas have also been bolstered in the reserves by the return for the first time this month of flanker Marcos Kremer from a knee injury and wing Mateo Carreras, who became a father. They started both tests against France in July.
Kremer and Carreras also are among 10 Pumas who play for clubs in France.
“We have to look at our shirt and from there put it where it deserves, regardless of the opponent,” Carreras said. "The extra spice of it being France gives us that desire to go out and win. The connection in defense is going to be key. We have to keep the ball a lot and maintain discipline.”
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Argentina's Guido Petti, top, jumps for the ball during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Ireland and Argentina, at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Argentina's Juan Cruz Mallia, right, breaks away from Ireland's James Lowe, to score a try during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Ireland and Argentina, at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
New Zealand's Patrick Tuipulotu, right, and France's Thibaud Flament compete for line out ball during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between France and All Blacks at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French players celebrate following the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between France and All Blacks at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Countries of the world took turns rejecting a new but vague draft text released early Thursday which attempts to form the spine of any deal reached at United Nations climate talks on money for developing countries to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change.
The draft left out a crucial sticking point: how much wealthy nations will pay poor countries. A key option for the lowest amount donors are willing to pay was just a placeholder “X.” Part of that is because rich nations have yet to make an offer in negotiations.
So the host Azerbaijan presidency with its dawn-released package of proposals did manage to unite a fractured world on climate change, but it was only in their unease and outright distaste for the plan. Negotiators at the talks — known as COP29 — in Baku, are trying to close the gap between the $1.3 trillion the developing world says is needed in climate finance and the few hundred billion that negotiators say richer nations have been prepared to give.
Independent experts say that at least $1 trillion is needed in finance to help transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels and toward clean energy like solar and wind, better adapt to the effects of climate change and pay for losses and damages caused by extreme weather.
Colombia's environment minister Susana Mohamed said without a figure offered by developed nations, “we are negotiating on nothing.”
Panama's Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez said the “lack of commitment transparency feels like a slap in the face to the most vulnerable."
"It is just utter disrespect to those countries that are bearing the brunt of this crisis,” he said. “Developed countries must stop playing games with our life and put a serious quantified financial proposal on the table.”
Gomez listed places where negotiators worked on the issue: South Africa, Germany, the Philippines, Egypt, Austria, Switzerland, Dubai, Colombia and a few times here in Baku, asking “For God’s sakes, what’s the next stop? Mars? Do we need to go to outer space to get a quantitative number from our developed countries to be able to start negotiating here?”
Esa Ainuu, from the small Pacific island of Niue also blasted the lack of a number in the draft deal.
“For us in the Pacific, this is critical for us,” Ainuu said. “We can’t escape to the desert. We can’t escape somewhere else. This is reality for us. If finance is not bringing any positive, (then) why’re we coming to COP?”
Mohamed Adow, director of the think tank Power Shift Africa, also expressed disappointment at the lack of a figure. “We need a cheque but all we have right now is a blank piece of paper,” he said.
Iskander Erzini Vernoit, director of Moroccan climate think-tank Imal Initiative for Climate and Development, said he was “at a loss for words at how disappointed we are at this stage to have come this far without serious numbers on the table and serious engagement from the developed countries.”
Even United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “I don’t think you can go on and on and on without clarifying the key aspects of the negotiation.”
Lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev emphasized how balanced the plan was, but all sides kept saying it was anything but balanced and pointed time was running out.
“We would like to correct the balance. It is completely tilted,” Pakistan delegate Romina Khurshid Alam said.
The European Union’s climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra called the draft “imbalanced, unworkable, and not acceptable.”
And Xia Yingxian, a member of China delegation, also said the current draft text contains many “unsatisfied and unacceptable” parts.
In a statement, the COP29 Presidency stressed that the drafts “are not final.”
“The COP29 Presidency’s door is always open, and we welcome any bridging proposals that the parties wish to present,” the Presidency said in a statement. It added that possible numbers for a finance goal will be released in the next iteration of the draft.
COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev convened the Qurultay — a traditional Azerbaijani meeting — where negotiators spoke to hear all sides and hammer out a compromise. He said that “after hearing all views, we will outline a way forward regarding future iterations.”
Other areas that are being negotiated include commitments to slash planet-warming fossil fuels and how to adapt to climate change. But they’ve seen little movement.
European nations and the United States criticized the package of proposals for not being strong enough in reiterating last year’s call for a transition away from fossil fuels.
“The current text offers no progress” on efforts to cut the world’s emissions of heat-trapping gases, said Germany delegation chief Jennifer Morgan. “This cannot and must not be our response to the suffering of millions of people around the world. We must do better.”
U.S. climate envoy John Podesta said he was surprised that “there is nothing that carries forward the ... outcomes that we agreed on last year in Dubai.” The United States, the world’s biggest historic emitter of greenhouse gases, has played little role in the talks as it braces for another presidency under Donald Trump.
But members of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance such as Colombia, Ireland and Denmark, who are pushing for an end of fossil fuels, said the lack of wording on transitioning away from fossil fuels is not a deal killer for them.
Days earlier, the 20 largest economies met in Brazil and didn't mention the call for transitioning away from fossil fuels. Guterres, who was at that meeting, said official language is one thing, but reality is another.
“There will be no way” the world can limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius "if there is not a phase out of fossil fuels,” Guterres said at a Thursday news conference.
Also on Thursday, the EU, Mexico, Norway and several other countries announced they would release plans to rapidly cut emissions over the next decade to meet the landmark Paris agreement’s goal of restraining global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, although they did not detail how those cuts would happen.
Under the agreement, countries need to detail their voluntary plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by early next year.
“There is a real risk of falling short,” said Tore Sandvik, Norway’s minister of climate and environment. “We must reinforce the message that the Paris agreement is functioning as intended.”
Associated Press journalists Ahmed Hatem and Olivia Zhang contributed to this report.
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Susana Muhamad, environment minister of Colombia, left, speaks at a session next to Denmark Climate Minister Lars Aagaard during a session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Attendees have "pay up" taped on their mouth during the People's Plenary at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Antonio Guterres, United Nations secretary-general, arrives for a news conference at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists display signs that read "stop fueling genocide" during the People's Plenary at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Antonio Guterres, United Nations secretary-general, speaks during a news conference at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Children advocate for a clean planet during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, left, and Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan's COP29 lead negotiator, speak during a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Austria Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler, left, talks with Australia Climate Minister Chris Bowen before a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Jennifer Morgan, Germany climate envoy, arrives ahead of a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, arrives for a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Panama Climate Envoy Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, left, and Wopke Hoekstra, EU climate commissioner, attend a session on climate targets during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
A security person stands near a logo for the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists participate in a demonstration for climate justice at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
