COP29 Key Points & Why This Time It’s Different
Published date: November 2024
COP29 dates - 11th of November to the 22nd of November 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan.The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) represents an annual assembly meeting predominantly attended by
- Heads of state
- Business community members from UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)
- Sustainability experts
- Ambassadors
- NGO's (Non-Profit Organisation)
- Campaigners
What is the Purpose of COP?
Each year, the main objective is to collectively advance the existing climate efforts towards the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement targets. Over time, the 196 nations that are signed up are legally committed to
- Significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to NetZero
- Adapting their economies, infrastructure, and agriculture to mitigate and reduce the impacts of climate change
- Holding other countries to account so that each year the world is strengthening its solutions for climate change
- Help limit the average global temperature rise to 2°C above pre-industrial era levels and aim to keep the average global temperature to within 1.5°C increase.
What are the Key Points of COP29?
- Limiting warming: The main goal of COP29 is to limit average global temperature rise to below 1.5°C.
- Enabling action: COP29 will negotiate a new goal for developed countries to provide climate finance to developing countries. This is known as the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG).
- Enhancing ambition: Countries will submit new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to cover the period up to 2035. These targets increase in ambition every five years.
- Inclusive process: The mechanisms used to achieve the goals of COP29 will be inclusive and just.
- Transparency: The conference will complete the first enhanced transparency framework.
- International cooperation: COP29 will enhance international cooperation in terms of expertise, international partnerships and aid.
- Green Zone: A dedicated space for private sector organisations to showcase climate-friendly solutions.
COP29 is also known as "the finance COP" because of the importance of the climate finance negotiations.
Why is COP29 so important?
COP28 represented the formal outcome of the first Global Stocktake and recognised that existing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs, commitments that countries make to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions) fell considerably short of what is required to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5°C. NDCs are updated and resubmitted every 5 years as part of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
This shortfall means COP29 is poised to play an important role in ensuring countries are taking their climate commitments seriously and submitting their updated NDCs by February 2025 (for the period ending in 2035).
However, a contentious point of COP29 is the host nation itself, as Azerbaijan is an oil and gas-dependent nation. In fact, Azerbaijan is one of the most fiscally dependent countries for fossil fuels in the world, providing a major driver in their economy. Their transition to NetZero is proving to be one of the most challenging anywhere on Earth.
With this said the UAE Consensus, which was signed by 198 countries at COP28, does show a strong acknowledgement from oil and gas-dependent countries like Azerbaijan to transition away from fossil fuels in line with targets for net zero by 2050. Suggesting that economies of this nature are willing to make public commitments to climate action.
COP29 is the first time this level of commitment will be tested on a global stage. Azerbaijan, as hosts, have the potential to award a significant moral victory to climate action if it sets a strong precedent on concrete climate commitments. If Azerbaijan was then able to influence other similar fossil-fuel-dependent countries to follow suit, keeping global temperature rise to within 2°C would become more achievable.
Why is COP29 being dubbed as the 'Finance COP'?
Climate finance has been a core issue since the first meeting in Berlin, 1995. Currently, there is a $100 billion commitment to climate finance which is collectively made by all countries that are signed up and in attendance of COP.
However, it is estimated that an increased annual global target of $500 billion is needed by 2025, with a target of $1.55 trillion by 2030. This is at least five times more than the current allocated pot.
COP29 challenges those in attendance to help raise and gather this capital if we are to successfully manage the impacts of climate change and support countries most in need.
What is the Climate Loss and Damage Fund?
The Climate Loss and Damage Fund is in place to support countries that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. These are countries that cannot reasonably adapt to circumstances like sea level rise and the loss of habitats due to flooding.
At COP28, the Loss and Damage Fund was operationalised and now countries must begin to contribute to it. It is currently unclear whether the NCQG (The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance) will include the Loss and Damage Fund.
What Is the UK doing at COP29?
UK Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband has warned that the UK must ramp up its efforts on renewable energy to foster national security in an increasingly uncertain world.
He pledged that the UK would lead talks and efforts at COP29 to secure new vital agreements to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
“The only way to keep the British people secure today is by making Britain a clean-energy superpower, and the only way we protect future generations is by working with other countries to deliver climate action,” Miliband told the Observer. “This government is committed to accelerating climate action precisely because it is by doing this that we protect our country, with energy security, lower bills, and good jobs.”
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