COP29 gets underway in Baku today (11th November), shining an 11-day spotlight on climate change, finance and energy.
COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said it meets at a time of “complexity and conflict” but insisted when sectors work together, it can lift economies and lower emissions.
“The critical success factor for all climate progress is finance,” he said. “We continue to call on all sources, public and private, to make finance more available, accessible and affordable. At this COP, the finance COP, I urge all parties to deliver a new collective quantified goal that is capable of fully implementing the UAE Consensus.”
He said it has made progress on the loss and damage fund with $853m pledged to date, but history will judge us “by our actions, not by our words”.
Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, outlined the “rampant” climate crisis, personalising it with reference to his 85-year-old neighbour who was impacted by damage from Hurricane Beryl.
“There are people like Florence in every country on earth,” he said. “Let’s make this real. Do you want your grocery and energy bills to go up even more? Do you want even further global instability? That’s why we’re here in Baku, we must agree a new global climate finance goal. If nations can’t build resilience into their supply chains, the entire global economy will be brought to its knees. No country is immune. We must get international carbon markets up and running, by finalising Article 6.”
The high-profile climate meeting’s opening coincides with the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC) publishing its Baseline Report. The charter has 55 companies signed up, covering 44% of global production.
The world is set to add another renewable record this year, adding 500GW to global capacity (reaching $2trn) but worldwide energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 1.1% in 2023, and this year is set to be the hottest on record.
In its latest report, the IEA notes the pathway to Net Zero emissions by 2050 is “very narrow”. In recent years, the energy sector has been responsible for three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Challenges facing host country Azerbaijan are typical of those in many fossil fuel-oriented economies.
It aims to increase renewable power capacity to 30% by 2030 and diversify its existing energy system to become ‘a leader in green energy’, although currently oil and gas remain critical to its economy, and it was given a ‘critically Insufficient’ rating from Climate Action Tracker.
“The country is doubling down on fossil fuel extraction, and planning to increase fossil gas extraction by more than 30% over the coming decade,” according to Climate Tracker.
Asked by Sky News if his country’s plans to increase gas production were compatible with its climate leadership role, COP29 lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev said it was obliged by “commitments towards our customers” and the “geopolitical context surrounding us”.
