COP29 At A Glance: Six Core Points You Should Know

As COP29 kicks off today in Baku, Azerbaijan, world leaders have gathered for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The summit, running from Nov. 11 to 22, 2024, is being held at Baku Stadium in Azerbaijan's capital.

COP, which stands for Conference of Parties, is an annual international climate conference bringing together 197 countries. The participating nations, known as 'parties', have committed to reducing human-caused interference with the climate system to avoid dangerous global warming.

As of now, there are 198 parties (197 countries plus the European Union) to the convention, constituting near universal membership. The COP is held annually, with the presidency rotating between the five recognised UN regions—African Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eastern European Group, Latin American and Caribbean Group, Western European and Others Group.

The overarching goals of COP29 include achieving carbon neutrality, promoting sustainable development, ensuring inclusivity, and fostering global partnerships for climate action. Transparency, accountability, and safety are also key priorities for this conference.

At the opening ceremony of COP29, President Mukhtar Babayev warned that current policies are driving the world towards 3°C of warming, which would have catastrophic consequences for billions of people.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell echoed this concern, and emphasised the urgent need for an updated global climate finance target and more robust actions on carbon markets to ensure progress in mitigating climate change​.

• Climate Finance and the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG): One of the central objectives is establishing a new climate finance target to replace the previous $100-billion per year commitment, while addressing the financial needs of developing nations. This will involve discussions on how to increase the scale of climate finance, ensure its accessibility, and ensure it supports the most vulnerable nations​.

• Progress on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): Countries are expected to commit to more ambitious emissions reduction targets, aligning their NDCs with the 1.5°C global warming limit. This includes sector-specific actions, like shifting to renewable energy and sustainable food systems​.

• Finalising the Paris Agreement's Article 6: A critical goal is to finalise the rules around international carbon markets, which allow for emissions trading between countries. This aims to make climate mitigation more cost-effective and equitable​.

• Adaptation and resilience: COP29 will emphasise the importance of developing and implementing National Adaptation Plans or NAPs to help countries build resilience against climate change impacts.

• A just transition: Ensuring a fair transition to a low-carbon economy is a key issue, particularly in terms of involving workers and communities, including through the Just Transition Work Programme​.

• Sectoral action and global commitments: Reports will be released on previous commitments, including those made in COP28 on food systems, renewable energy, and decarbonisation​.