What COP29 did achieve
As described on the glossy COP29 Website
- Our fixed priority is delivering deep, rapid and sustained emission reductions now to keep temperatures under control and stay below 1.5°C, while leaving no one behind.
- The first pillar — to “enhance ambition” — combines key elements to ensure all parties commit to ambitious national plans and transparency.
- The second pillar — to “enable action” — reflects the critical role of finance, a key tool to turn ambition into action and reduce emissions, adapt to climate change and address loss and damage.
- It is working to ensure everyone’s voices are heard and perspectives are considered and included so that we deliver inclusive outcomes based on shared solutions.
Editors comment: quite vague really and they could probably announce success based on this criteria without any real difference made….. we will see!
Deals made
- Climate finance fund: $300 billion dollars given to Developing countries and China voluntarily giving money although it is still counts as a developing country. Called the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG)
- Carbon Offset fund: new centralised UN trading system to enable big polluters to keep on polluting by giving money to projects that lower carbon emissions. There will be stricter rules on what counts to act as a carbon reducing project. This is outlined in article 6 of the Paris agreement.
- Methane abatement partnership roadmap: $1300 billion by 2035 to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.
- Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR) required from all countries by the end of the year. This is for scrutiny around what actually happens to the money given and proof that you are doing what you are saying you are.
- (Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs) i.e National Climate plans become due from all countries next year. These new climate plans must cover all greenhouse gases and all sectors, to keep the 1.5°C warming limit within reach. COP29 saw two G20 countries – the UK and Brazil – signal clearly that they plan to ramp up climate action in their NDCs 3.0, because they are entirely in the interests of their economies and peoples.
- Baku Workplan Workplan aimed to elevate the voices of indigenous peoples.
- Lima Work Programme on Gender and Climate Change extended for another 10 years.
They only talked about……
They talked about a new gender action plan will need to wait until COP30 because lots of countries argued about including the word gender.
They talked about National Adaptation Plans High-Level Dialogue on National Adaptation Plans. But an actual agreement on adaptation i.e money to support countries that need to put projects forward in order to help combat the actual effects of climate change will need to wait until COP30.
They allowed children as young as 10 to talk to the delegates explaining their views.
Book launch
The High-Level Champions, under the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, launched their Yearbook of Global Climate change action 2024 Yearbook of Global Climate Action at COP24
Well, reading the small print on the vague priorities they hoped to achieve then I guess then COP29 could be considered as success.
But when you set the bar so low, success comes very easily.
Maybe we should all be doing our bit as well. After all this planet is worth saving- there is no plan B.
