Climate and Conservation Targets in Peril, with Policy Still Lacking

Madelaine Stannard covers key outcomes from last year's COP summits, and key priorities for conservation and climate endeavours in 2025.

The Earth is a constant. Every day, we can step outside, look up, and there it is. Beneath our feet, ants in concrete cracks form networks that weave throughout our cities. We can open our doors, and somehow, anywhere, nature will be there. Blink, and you might miss it, but it’s there all the same. If you call out, nature will answer, no matter where you are. The Earth has been with us since the start, and will be around long after each of us. Though, it seems some of its inhabitants have taken this sentiment too far.

It appears the human race, spearheaded by stone-faced politicians, is still cycling through the same set of problems year on year. The planet is warming at unprecedented rates, and the World Wildlife Fund’s 2024 Living Planet Report found a decline of 73% in the average size of monitored wildlife populations. That’s not to say there hasn’t been progress. All around, individuals in grassroots and national organisations are making a difference through efforts on the ground, and slowly, at policy level.

But just last year, the COP29 global summit was shrouded in accusations that its host country, Azerbaijan, lay largely uncommitted to climate targets. President Ilham Aliyev compared coal and gas - two of the most infamous fossil fuels responsible for 45% and 20% annual carbon dioxide emissions globally - to ‘gifts from God’, which unsurprisingly left a sour taste in the mouths of the thousands of climate activists worldwide tuning into the conference. For every climate and biodiversity milestone we meet, it feels as though someone, somewhere, is hacking away with an axe at the rungs of the ladder we are slowly climbing. 

Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, with Maia Sandu, President of Moldova, at COP29. Aliyev has received intense backlash after being filmed making controversial remarks about the future of fossil fuels in the country. Image Credit: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Wikimedia Commons

It makes sense as to why eco-anxiety, a severe and detrimental concern for the environment, is becoming so prevalent; three-quarters of British adults reported feeling anxious about climate change. Young people in particular, aged 16-29, are feeling the weight of the world intensely, with 49% in one survey describing themselves as anxious, powerless, and angry. With every news headline about the climate, or the state of the world’s biodiversity, comes a barrage of statistics condemning us to a bleaker future.

Alas, all hope is not lost. Throughout the year, Wild Magazine has highlighted a realm of success stories happening across the globe - on World Nature Day 2024, we put three major British conservation projects in the spotlight. From restoring Scottish seagrass meadows, to keeping a close eye on the health of native bird populations, efforts are being made to significantly advance the conservation of native species and wild spaces. For World Elephant Day, we paid homage to the brave wildlife rangers who lost their lives in the line of duty, whilst defending this persecuted species from poachers. We even celebrated the closure of the UK’s last coal-fired power station, effectively ending the use of coal in this country.

Much progress has been made, but there is still much to do. Knowing our priorities, and what we should be using our valuable votes on in future, can help alleviate some of the anxiety we feel about our planet. A planet that, without concerted, collective, and continuing efforts, will lose so much of the biota we depend on, and descend towards a state incompatible with our human lifestyle.

At COP29, last November’s annual climate Conference of the Parties, a major topic of discussion was the climate finance goal; so much so, the conference has been named the ‘climate finance COP’. The existing goal, $100 billion pledged from developed countries to the developing world to support their climate endeavours, expires in 2025. Thus, an updated finance target - a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) - was in order.

It’s imperative that greenhouse gas emissions are cut, and soon. Between January to September 2024, the average temperature globally was 1.54°C above pre-Industrial averages. Emissions of coal, gas, and oil around the world were up from 2023, in spite of slower growth. Experts are warning we are dangerously close to the point of no return - unsuccessful in limiting long-term planetary warming to below 2°C, and below 1.5°C by the end of the century, as per the Paris Agreement. Already exceeding this threshold for many months in 2024, the World Meteorological Society is concerned that the planetary boundary will be exceeded with increasing frequency in years to come.

Not every country or nation has the same capability to make lasting change; some have less resources, and in many cases, less responsibility, for the state of the current climate. At COP15, in 2009, developed countries pledged to donate $100bn annually to developing countries by 2020. The target was achieved, albeit two years late, but COP29 signalled the chance to set a new finance goal, in line with progress towards the Paris Agreement.

After days of deliberation in Baku, leaders came to an agreement - the developing world will receive £1.3 trillion per year by 2035, pledging $300bn themselves annually. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, said, “It will keep the clean energy boom growing, helping all countries to share in its huge benefits: more jobs, stronger growth, cheaper and cleaner energy for all.” Stiell also stressed the importance of delivering financial promises punctually, commenting that it will only be successful if “premiums are paid in full, and on time,” and that “promises must be kept, to protect billions of lives.”

World leaders and representatives in negotiations at COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Image Credit: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Wikimedia Commons.

Not everyone was satisfied with the resulting deal. At the time, The Guardian reported that just $300bn of the lofty amount will come in the form of grants and low-interest loans from rich countries, which are desperately needed by the developing world.

Countries including Cuba, Bolivia, and Nigeria, and Small Island Developing States, are those which will be disproportionately impacted by the advent of climate change, and remain most vulnerable to extreme weather events and rising sea levels. They, alongside numerous others, fought to receive more money directly, but developed countries insisted it was beyond their pockets to pledge anything exceeding the agreed $300bn.

The remaining money, required to meet the $1.3tn target, is still to be sourced from private investors and new sources of funds. When asked about the outcome of NCQG talks, Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, said of the summit: “it has been a disaster for the developing world. It’s a betrayal of both people and planet, by wealthy countries who claim to take climate change seriously.” Adow critiqued the pledges made by developed countries for the future, as opposed to providing funds upfront , describing how “lives and livelihoods in vulnerable countries are being lost now.”

Leading economists have also claimed that proposed tripling of the previous climate finance target fails to account for inflation, suggesting funds pledged today will lose 20% of their value over time as per current rates. Failure to cover this technicality caused concern amongst COP29 attendees and representatives of the developing world, with Lisa Sachs, of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, remarking that the commitment made was based on nothing more than an “adversarial tussle about figures.”

Much to the same tune, COP16 - the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - took place in Cali, Colombia in late October. Biological diversity, the vast array of life on Earth, faces a terrifying crisis, with more and more flora and fauna disappearing under the threats of climate change, habitat loss, and overexploitation of species. Member countries have previously pledged a number of significant targets towards restoring nature at COP15 (2022) under the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. 

The overarching target that emerged from COP15 was a commitment to protecting 30% of Earth’s land and sea for nature by 2030, an ambitious 30x30 target. Colombia’s summit was the first opportunity for countries to measure their progress against this bold goal. Unsurprisingly, key issues were left unresolved. Representatives from developing nations were disappointed at the order of discussions, stating their countries did not have the budgets to change flight plans after negotiations were extended and crucial issues left to the final hour. 

In Montreal, two years prior, rich countries promised to deliver $20bn annually to developing countries by this year, funding nature protection, but failed to do so. Developed regions also pledged to raise $200bn a year by 2030. But in Colombia, negotiations were over before a suitable strategy on doing so could be agreed, leaving the future of conservation financing embroiled in doubt.

There were several successes at both COP29 and COP16, including an agreement for all countries to submit new national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions) by February 2025, and a new subsidiary body created to give Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities an official voice in global decisions on biodiversity. Yet, for every effort made by dedicated activists and climate and biodiversity representatives, progress is hampered by loose targets and insufficient funds to see them through.

Only time will tell what COP30 and COP17 CBD will produce, but if this year’s events are anything to go by, perhaps we shouldn’t be too optimistic. As always, now is the time to keep the planet in mind and vote wisely in any local and national elections. It falls to us to tell politicians to put their money where their mouth is, and act like the world depends on it. Because, really, it does.

About the Author

Madelaine Stannard is an MSc Science Communication student at the University of Sheffield, after completing her BSc in Zoology. She has been Managing Editor at Wild Magazine for two years, and is passionate about communicating endangered species recovery, conservation, and environmental politics.