What actually happened at cop 29?

Understanding COP can be overwhelming – the players, the processes, and the purpose often feel tangled in complexity. Below, Melissa unpacks the key takeaways from this year’s COP, shedding light on the state of global climate action and what it means for our planet’s future.

First things first, let's decode some of the terms used... 

Conference of the Parties (COP) is an annual meeting of the 198 member countries, or “parties”, of the UNFCCC

UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; it entered into force in 1994 and its main objective is to address and prevent dangerous human caused climate change
NDC: Nationally Determined Contributions; these are each country's climate plan that they submit to the UNFCCC. It includes emissions targets, policies, and emissions reduction measures. It was an integral part of the Paris Agreement.
UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme; the global environmental authority

1. On day 1, parties agreed to strong standards for a carbon market under the UN...

Click the image to learn more about the carbon market

after nearly a decade of discussions; the goal is that when operational, they’ll help countries implement their climate plans faster and cheaper, driving down emissions

• Findings of both UNFCCC's NDC synthesis report and UNEP’s emissions gap report were presented
• NDC report: Countries’ climate plans are nowhere near where they need to be to reduce emissions effectively and in time to avoid devastating impacts to the environment, economies, and people across the globe; "they fall miles short of what’s needed”
• ​Emissions gap report:
  • Cuts of 42% are needed by 2030 & 57% by 2035 or 1.5°C will be out of reach; we are currently on track to reach 2.6-3.1°C warming this century; GHG are accumulating faster than at any point in human history (learn more about global warming here>>>)

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2. There was a meeting of the initiative “Sports for Climate Action”

• Encourages sports organizations to: 
  - take responsibility for their climate footprint
  - collaborate to put sports on path towards low carbon
  - set net-zero targets with actionable steps
  - be transparent
  - incentivize climate action beyond sports
  

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3. Gender Day 

• Countries extended the gender action plan Lima Work Programme on Gender and Climate Change another decade 
• highlights the importance and benefits of including gender considerations in measuring environmental data and creating climate plans
• Women across the globe face a disproportionate burden from a warming world

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4. The Baku Workplan was adopted, which elevates the voices of local communities and Indigenous Peoples in climate action.

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5. Trump’s looming presidency cast a long shadow over talks...

...with many people writing off the US’s participation over the next 4 years. In 2021, the US played a crucial role in the deal that was reached at COP26 in Glasgow, but Trump has already said he will pull the US out of the Paris Agreement yet again
​The United States is world’s 2nd biggest polluter.

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6. After 2 weeks of negotiations, a deadlock and 30 hours of negotiations going into “overtime” (the entire COP was at risk of falling apart), over 200 countries reached a deal to up their contribution (NDC) to $300 billion/year to developing countries.

Click the image to learn more about natural disasters

Initially, poorer countries had asked for 1.3 trillion, and economic experts agree that they need over $1 trillion to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Many countries are calling it “too little, too late” relative to the scale of climate change. 

• Aimed at helping poorer countries deal with effects of climate change, climate protection, and to facilitate the green transition
• Based on “polluters pay” principle whereby those that produce the pollution (i.e. developed countries) should bear the cost of mitigating, managing, and adapting 
• ​​Bare minimum: This amount is just enough to balance inflation and increasing costs, but on the plus side it does show multilateralism works, though it’s difficult to come to an agreement

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7. The influence of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP 

• Recurring Influence of Fossil Fuel Lobby
  
  • COP29 is the third consecutive conference hosted by a fossil fuel-producing nation.
  • Azerbaijan's president described fossil fuels as "a gift from God" in his address to the summit.
• Conflict of Interest Among Leadership
  
  • Elnur Soltanov, Azerbaijan's COP29 chief executive, also serves as deputy energy minister and sits on the board of Socar, Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company.
  • Fossil fuels constitute nearly half of Azerbaijan’s economy.
• Fossil Fuel Industry Representation at COP29
  
  • Over 130 oil and gas executives were granted special badges as guests of the presidency.
  • 1,173 fossil fuel lobbyists attended COP29, outnumbering the total delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations (1,033 passes).
• Criticism of COP’s Credibility
  
  • The high presence of fossil fuel lobbyists undermines the integrity of COP discussions, especially for climate-vulnerable nations.
  • The summit failed to produce actionable steps to build on COP28’s commitment to reduce fossil fuel dependence and triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
• Calls for Reform
  
  • Former US Vice President Al Gore urged the establishment of stricter hosting standards for COP summits, prioritising nations with robust climate action plans.
  • Gore proposed barring delegates who cannot meet stringent climate accountability standards, such as:
    • Possessing a credible net-zero plan.
    • Phasing down oil and gas production.
    • Investing a fair share of profits into renewable energy.
    • Ceasing anti-climate lobbying and greenwashing practices.
  • Gore also advocated for the UN Secretary-General to have greater authority in selecting host nations, emphasising the need for reform after three successive "petrostates" as hosts.

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