Co-operation to stop climate change not 'out for the count', Cop29 told

Mon, 11 Nov, 2024 - 14:10

David Kent

World leaders at Cop29 have been told that there is still hope for global cooperation to prevent a climate catastrophe.

The two-week event, organised by the United Nations (UN) was officially opened in Baku on Monday morning by the group's Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.

The main focus of Cop29 is to "finance the energy transition and adapt to climate change", with leaders set to agree a new climate finance target, or 'new collective quantified goal' (NCQG).

Under the Paris Agreement, this NCQG had to be agreed by 2025.

In his opening address to the event, attended by more than 100 heads of state and government, Mr Stiell said that if two thirds of the world's nations can't afford to cut emissions quickly, every nation will pay "a brutal price".

He said: "If nations can’t build resilience into supply chains, the entire global economy will be brought to its knees. No country is immune."

Cop29 should "dispense with the idea that climate finance is charity", he said adding that the NCQG would be in the self-interest of every single nation - including the largest and wealthiest.

However, it was not enough to just agree on a goal, he said.

"We must work harder to reform the global financial system. Giving countries the fiscal space they so desperately need."

There have been debates for months on who should be contributing to the NCQG and how much they should be providing.

Fossil fuel lobbyists

Last week, there was criticism of the attendance at Cop29 of fossil fuel lobbyists — with the last three Cop events seeing substantial numbers in attendance when compared to some nations.

Mr Stiell made just one reference to fossil fuels in his opening remarks — pointing out that clean energy and infrastructure investment will hit €1.8 trillion in 2024, almost twice that of fossil fuels.

But he urged the gathered delegations not to leave Baku without "a substantial outcome".

"Appreciating the importance of this moment, Parties must act accordingly," he said. "Show determination and ingenuity here at Cop29 — We need all parties to push for agreement right from the start — to stand and deliver.

"Now it is the time to show that global cooperation is not down for the count. So I urge you all, let us rise together."

On Monday morning, delegates were told by the Copernicus Climate Change (C3S) service that it is "virtually certain" 2024 will become the hottest year on record, surpassing the milestone set just last year.

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Carlo Buontempo, C3S Director, noted that the "relentless increase in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases" had played a key role in the warming.

He told reporters: "As world leaders gather at Cop29, we hope they can base their decisions on this strong observational evidence. Learning rapidly how to best use the insights coming from the huge amount of scientific data, information and knowledge we already have about climate change, is one of the key challenges of our times."

There has been heavy criticism of the choice of Azerbaijan as host of Cop29 — the third consecutive year that the event has been held is what is seen as an 'oil state' after Cop28 in the UAE and Cop27 in Egypt.

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) struck a slew of deals potentially worth more than €7bn in the time since Baku was confirmed as host of Cop29.

A ‘Cop of peace’? How can the authoritarian, human rights-trashing Azerbaijan host that?