Grace Clift uncovers what to expect from the upcoming COP29 in Azerbaijan, what the most pressing issues are this year and the UK’s current goals.
A view of the Baku Bay, Azerbaijan, where COP29 will take place in November 2024. [Image Credit: AlixSaz via Wikimedia Commons]
Next month from 11 - 22 November 2024, COP29 will be held in Azerbaijan by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The first Daily Programme will be published on 11 November 2024, but an overview has already been released; highlights include the World Leaders Climate Action Summit (12-13 November), multiple Youth Led Climate Forum Dialogues and Gender Day (21 November).
COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and brings together all countries that are Parties to the UN convention. COPs are held in different countries every year, with the 2021 COP being hosted in Glasgow. It has historically been a climate conference to make actionable change among world leaders, and has led to major commitments such as all countries agreeing to commit to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (COP20, 2014).
Key demands among environmental charities and pressure groups focus on the ‘Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage’, climate finance and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The ‘Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage’ was created in 2022 to support countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The World Economic Forum has said that ‘the Loss and Damage Fund is yet to have meaningful impact’, as the pledged amount is ‘tiny compared to estimated loss and damage needs worldwide’.
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement details principles and cooperative tactics for improving carbon markets, but after two COPs, it is still not operationalised. The Agreement had 190 countries signing up to establish a voluntary global carbon market: more about what this means can be found here. The pressure has been building since 2015 to get this up and running, and COP29 could be the year that it finally happens.
The World Resources Institute has noted that most estimates find that developing countries will need up to $1 trillion per year in climate finance to combat changes and mitigate damage. At the absolute minimum, they will need 5 times as much as the current $100 billion commitment. They suggest that ending and redirecting fossil fuel subsidies and creating ‘solidarity levies’ on high-emission activities or wealth could vastly increase climate finance.
The UK has specified three goals to achieve before 2030: limiting global temperature increase to under 1.5C, build resilience to the impacts of climate change, and reverse biodiversity loss. Plus, climate finance has been noted for the 2024 agenda.
“The 2023 white paper on international development also said that the UK Government would “help secure an ambitious new climate finance goal in 2024”. It said this would include a nature finance component and better targeting of concessional public finance (namely that provided at or below market rates) for low-income countries.”
However, there is doubt upon whether these goals will effectively be worked towards. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suggested a plan for storing carbon dioxide in rocks under the North Sea – a method of carbon capture and storage – which The Guardian has called “ a fossil fuel-driven boondoggle that will accelerate climate breakdown”. Further, the article notes that the government has already slashed its green prosperity pledge by £28bn.
COP29 has the potential to be the most inclusive, momentous COP yet, with representatives from Indigenous tribes, young people across the world and 197 countries in attendance. Ahead of the event, attending protests and using social media as an activist platform is a great way to get involved and make your voice heard. The world will be holding its breath on the 11th November to see if change is really on the way.
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