The Partner of the Network for Reform in Greece and Europe (To Diktio) Mr. Evangelos Pastras reflects on the latest developments in Baku and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29).
The fourth day of COP29 was marked by limited progress in the negotiations. Despite efforts by the Convention Groups, talks on the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) and financing for adaptation have progressed slowly. The need to focus on the priorities set by leaders at the WCAS Summit, such as NCQG and funding to address the impacts of climate change, remains of paramount importance. Financing for climate action remains available, but commitments to the Adaptation Fund are somewhat disappointing, and National Contributions (NDCs) are not progressing with the required ambition. Notably, COP29 faces challenges in turning commitments into action as recorded in the COP29 daily updates:
🌍 Climate Finance: The Adaptation Fund remains $239 million short of its $300 million goal. The New Pledges to the Fund were very disappointing (only adding up to US$30 million in new pledges and US$60 million for previous multi-year pledges). On a positive note, the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force published its Progress Report with the different levy options under consideration.
💬 NCQG Negotiations: Informal talks focused on transparency, and enabling conditions but with limited clarity on landing zones. Developing countries underscored the need for more progress to create a balanced and succinct text that addresses their needs.
🌱 Adaptation: Rule 16 was applied to the National Adaptation Plans due to disagreements, signaling gridlocks in adaptation strategies. The Transformational Adaptation report, however, provides a glimmer of hope of the potential of adaptation that could be used to enhance negotiations.
🔍 Loss and Damage: Informal discussions highlighted subnational and national response systems (EU), national level coordination and L&D contact point communication, considerations regarding local communities (LDCs), capacity building for local points (G77) and financing. Consensus still remain elusive.
💡 Innovative Finance: The IHLEG report calls for $1 trillion annually for emerging economies by 2030 and ~US$1.3 trillion by 2035, with MDBs urged to triple lending capacity thus, demonstrating a credible commitment to provide and mobilise the finance needed. Of this external finance, around half will need to come from public sources and half from private sources (US$450 – $550 billion each)
🤝 Global Initiatives: The Baku Initiative (BICFIT) was launched as a multi-stakeholder platform to share best practices and advance dialogue at the intersection of climate finance, investment, and trade to address climate change and sustainable development.