COP29 is the United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 to 22 November 2024. The UN Climate Change Conferences (or COPs) takes place every year, and are the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change that brings together almost every country on Earth. To put it simply, the COP is where the world comes together to agree on the actions to address the climate crisis, such as limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. COP 29 brought together world leaders and negotiators from the member states (or Parties) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to further global progress, with business leaders, young people, climate scientists, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society sharing insights and best practices to strengthen global, collective and inclusive climate action. Among the key priorities of COP29 were securing a new goal on climate finance, ensuring every country has the means to take much stronger climate action, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilient communities. Also in focus was the next round of national climate plans, or NDCs, currently being developed by countries ahead of deadline and ensuring that bolder, fully implementable and investable strategies and targets are economy-wide, focused on transitioning away from fossil fuels, and keep the world on track to 1.5 degrees of warming. Note that officially, COP 29 stands for the 29th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is aligned to a landmark international treaty agreed in 1992, and parent treaty to the 2015 Paris Agreement.
COP29 left many disappointed, seen by many as a choice between disaster. For a fair criticism the Paris Agreement is not still delivering as it was designed to do – namely a bottom-up, consensus-driven framework. While COP29 was mainly seen as a stepping stone to COP30, when updated national climate plans are expected to be presented, the bar was set high this year for hammering out a landmark climate finance deal. However, COP29 outcomes reflected the lowest common denominator; some proposals were inevitably too modest for some and too ambitious for others. This means success or failure was rarely a clear-cut binary. While these two weeks of COPs always capture the global spotlight, they’re merely steps in an incremental, consensus-driven process. As the European Commissioner for Climate aptly put it: ‘It is less than what we would have liked, but better than we feared’.
It is presumed that, climate finance from ‘the rich man picking up the tab’ to ‘passing the buck’, as high hopes this time round rooted for a new financial framework from 2025 onwards to replace the USD 100 billion annual pledge quickly collided with reality. The estimations of annual investment needs by 2030 varied, ranging from USD 1.55 trillion to USD 6.5 trillion, and even as high as USD 9 trillion. But negotiations quickly revealed deep divides over funding levels, contribution types and the expected donor base. The final compromise was USD 300 billion annual target and a broader call to mobilise USD 1.3 trillion by 2035 drew fierce criticism from developing countries and climate NGOs, with some developing nations even briefly walking out of negotiations and India delivering a scathing public rebuke. For many, the new target was both absolutely insufficient and vague. Yet despite attempts to throw everything but the kitchen sink during the negotiations, three core obstacles persisted. First, substantially scaling up grant-based financing, which in 2022 comprised only 28 % of public climate finance, with most of the remainder consisting of loans, was challenging as donors are facing fiscal tightening and increased trade tensions, and the US is expected to again withdraw from the Paris Agreement and this will happen because the President elect of USA , Donald Trump strongly believes that the climate change is a hoax. Secondly, donor scope was another sticking point, as the donor list from the 1992 UNFCCC is outdated, with some developing countries having since transformed into economic powerhouses and finally, the success of the ‘Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T’ will only hinge on significantly increased private sector contributions. Meanwhile, private finance remains stagnant, significantly hindered by regulatory and political environment in Africa.
By and large, the 24 November 2024 agreement on climate finance reached at COP29 failed to deliver on an ambitious and fit-for-purpose quantum to support developing countries in their existential fight against the devastating impacts of climate change.? Parties concluded with an agreement to provide at least $300 billion annually: while the deal triples the expiring $100 billion annual commitment made in 2009, it is a far cry from the $1.3 trillion annually in public funding that developing countries and civil society organizations begged. African countries need to increase the scale of the climate finance and reduce crisis in their nations. The high demands by African delegates bore a disproportionate burden from climate change, but also they have historically contributed the least to climate change.
Finally, the availability and level of climate finance (both public and private sector) if given attention should significantly affect the ability of African countries to undertake a low carbon, climate resilient development pathway which, in turn, will have a significant impact on the achievement of National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and therefore, African countries must increase their commitments to climate finance as donor countries are either economically stressed or fatigued with endless demands from poor nations.
In his final remarks, The UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell noted that, the new finance goal at COP29 was s an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country. But like any insurance policy – it only works – if premiums are paid in full, and on time. Promises must be kept, to protect billions of lives. The Cop29 deal must keep the clean energy boom growing, and helping all countries to share in their huge benefits: more jobs, stronger growth, cheaper and cleaner energy for all. He further warned delegates that, we needed this to be an enabling COP – one which must help to translate the pledges of COP29 into real-world outcomes to protect people, prosperity, and the, planet.
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Denis Tukahikaho PhD is the CEO -Denning & Young Ltd Carbon Credit Farmer, Climate Finance & ESG Development Specialist.
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Denis Tukahikaho holds a PhD in environmental Management & Economics, he is a PhD student in International Relations and Diplomacy – AI University Hawaii USA, holds a Master of Energy & Policy, Executive MBA, Bachelors of Business Administration (Banking & Finance) and Diploma in business Management and Economics.
