COP29 Wrapped Up: I hope its gone for minimal layers- we’ve got a hot year ahead of us
Image credit: The COP29 Presidency Team
At time of writing, we are just reaching the end of COP29, the annual Conference of the Parties in which state representatives gather to discuss our impending climate doom, and ponder as to whether it’s maybe time to do something about it.
Sorry – that was slightly biased.
Officially, COP, or the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is a chance for representatives to come together to discuss what progress so far has been made towards climate goals, how far intended policies have been successful, and what still needs to be done.
Different years take different focuses. In 2009 the focus was financial, and developed countries worldwide came together and pledged to collectively raise $100 billion a year to support developing countries’ climate action. An ambitious goal [that incidentally was hit for the first time only in 2020], but one that simultaneously was recognised to be insufficient – whilst a valuable first step, there remained an underlying acceptance that this number would one day have to be reconsidered.
This is where we find ourselves today. Once again, the focus is financial, and representatives from around 200 countries have flocked to Baku in Azerbaijan with the aim of agreeing a new spending target to reach climate goals. This increased spending is of essential importance; it would facilitate the needed transition to a low-carbon global economy through investment in green technologies and the implementation of climate resilient policies in developing countries.
Reaching an agreement, however, is proving to be challenging. Differing figures are being proposed – the Arab Group of countries has set high stakes with calls for a target of $1.1tn per year, the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change have raised this to $1.3tn a year, but a report from the Energy Transitions Commission think-tank suggests that these numbers, high as they seem, are not enough – to remain within the target of 1.5C, we also need capital investments of around $3tn a year.
It is perhaps unsurprising, therefore, that the apparent concluding offer from COP29 of an annual $250 billion has not quite been received with open arms.
Money always divides, but this is not a situation in which we can afford to be stingy, with the backdrop to these negotiations featuring news of events such as unprecedented floods in Spain and record wildfires in Ecuador, although then again – silly me – I guess money doesn’t grow on trees. We may have had a smattering of snow last week, but with warnings of 2024 set to be the hottest year yet, and a financial stalemate at the top, I think its parachutes, not ski boots, that we need to be dusting off – the end of the run’s looking worryingly barren.
Words by Coco Heppner
