Updated 19th November

Taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11th November until the 22nd, COP29 has brought together state delegates, climate activists, corporations and non-governmental organisations to discuss and deliver meaningful action in the race against climate change.

The sound you hear is the ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius   and time is not on our side...There is no time to lose on climate finance, the world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price. - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

With 2024 seeing continual climate disasters, including several deadly instances of flash flooding in Afghanistan, the need for wide-ranging interventions to protect our planet has only grown, but many advocates now fear that substantive change is not being actioned at the Conference of Parties, with states refusing to meet minimum climate financing commitments. 

So far, the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, has addressed several critical issues:

• Climate Financing Commitments

A central focus has been on mobilising financial resources to support developing nations in combating climate change. Major development banks have pledged to increase climate-related lending to $120 billion annually by 2030, with other actors also pledging to lend, donate or invest funds. 

However, the climate financing commitments announced at COP29 have been met with criticism, particularly from representatives from the Global South and climate activists, for being insufficient to address the scale of the climate challenges they are experiencing, falling short of the $1 trillion per year needed for emerging economies to cope with climate change.

Funds already disbursed have also not adequately met need - they have often been private investments instead of public grants, and have tended to focus on carbon mitigation and renewable energy programmes, instead of adaptation schemes required to reduce the risks and impacts of climate disasters and temperature changes. They also tend to have rigorous and cumbersome disbursement processes, meaning states are unable to quickly access support in times of crisis. 

Lending arrangements from development banks can also disproportionately impact the economic stability of developing countries who already disproportionately face climate impacts, despite contributing least to global emissions. Such schemes trap emerging nations in an intersecting cycle of climate impacts, debt and poverty, and also fail to recognise the historic obligations of Global North countries to provide these climate funds. 

• Loss and Damage

The Loss and Damage fund, which received much attention when first announced at COP27, is now reportedly ready to accept contributions, after key documents were signed in Baku earlier this week. The total pledged to the fund, which aims to support lower income countries to address loss and damage caused by the climate crisis, now stands at $720M. However, commitments remain at the discretion of states, and with $400 billion expected to be required per year to account for the worsening of climate disasters around the world, this commitment also falls far short of what is needed to support communities on the frontlines in countries like Afghanistan.

• A Global Carbon Trading Agreement

A notable development at COP29 is the agreement to launch carbon markets, backed by the UN, as early as next year. This initiative aims to facilitate carbon trading, enabling countries to purchase carbon credits which represent global projects that reduce or remove CO2 emissions, which can then be used to offset their own carbon emissions, giving greater flexibility to countries struggling to meet their at-home commitments, but raising concerns around transparency for critics. 

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We will continue to update this page as stories and statements from COP29 emerge, so check back here to learn more in the coming days of the Conference.

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• Want more background on the COP29 conference? Read our article here! 
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