Sohanur Rahman’s Post

Financial support falls well short of what estimates suggest will be needed, and the late agreement reveals increasingly fractured political support. Critics have branded COP29’s last minute deal as a ‘travesty of justice’. The agreement will see the wealthiest countries spend $300billion a year on helping developing nations #decarbonise and cope with the impact of the #climatecrisis. This is far leas than the $1.3trillion experts believe is needed to cover these cots, but the international community has failed to secure the necessary backing for this. As signatures were added to the agreement a number of countries, including several climate vulnerable islands and African states, walked out of the negotiating room in protest. ‘The 11th hour agreement reached at #COP29 is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the fact that a significant $300 billion has been pledged to support the world’s poorest in tackling the devastating effects of climate change represents real progress,’ said Environmental Audit Committee Chair, Toby Perkins MP. ‘While it is far less than the $1 trillion estimated to be needed, the sum agreed brought the negotiations back from the verge of collapse,’ he continued. ‘On the other hand, another failure to agree wording on leaving #fossilfuels in the past is simply kicking the can down the road. It is critical that next year’s #COP in #Brazil revisits the issue of phasing out fossil fuels. The world is making enormous progress in moving to low carbon energy: it’s time to turbocharge these efforts for the health and prosperity of our fragile planet.’

Chris Bowen makes last-minute diplomatic stop in Turkey as Australia ramps up bid to host Cop31 https://lnkd.in/d9hzTCTT Australia's climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has made a whistle-stop visit to Turkey to negotiate a deal for hosting tens of thousands of people at a major UN climate summit in 2026. The two countries are vying to host Cop31, and the Albanese government hopes Turkey will exit the race in time for an announcement before next week. The final decision on the conference's core issue of climate finance for poor and vulnerable countries is made by consensus. Some activists argue that Australia's hosting bid would be a form of greenwashing, while others believe it would bring a global spotlight to Pacific needs and accelerate Australia's move towards exporting renewable energy. Tonga's prime minister, Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, backed Australia's bid, calling it the "Pacific Cop." A study published this week found developing countries, excluding China, would need US$1.3tn a year by 2035 and recommended that US$1tn a year be paid from 2030. Negotiations on a "new collective quantified goal" on climate finance moved slowly this week, with some countries describing the wording of a proposed deal as "unworkable." Developed countries have argued they met the existing goal of delivering US$100bn of climate finance a year, but Oxfam estimates that nearly 70% of this was not funding but loans that would need to be repaid, often at rates that benefited the rich.

The outcome of #COP29 in #Baku has left Pacific Island nations and climate advocates reeling, with many labeling it "a failure on every front." Despite being framed as the "finance COP," the summit fell drastically short of delivering adequate climate finance or meaningful progress on fossil fuel phase-out, Loss and Damage, and the Just Transition Work Plan. With only a $300 billion annual finance goal pledged—far below the $1 trillion demanded by developing nations—the reliance on loans over grants further entrenches vulnerable nations in debt. Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN)'s regional director Rufino Varea described the outcome of the meeting as "a death sentence for millions," highlighting the devastating consequences for frontline communities. The Pacific's call for justice and urgent action has been met with indifference, underscoring the need for stronger advocacy and accountability on the global stage. Read more here:

Will COP 29 deliver under the Shadow of Trump? Trump’s win comes just days before representatives from nearly 200 nations gather in Azerbaijan for COP29, the annual United Nations climate summit. That two-week meeting will start Monday in the shadow of a Republican president-elect who has promised to lead another withdrawal from the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. A fresh exodus by the world’s largest economy and second-biggest emitter, reprising a move made during Trump’s first term, could have longer-lasting repercussions this time. Trump is now in a position to undermine the already-eroding faith in the climate cooperation that has shaped the past decade. His return promises to destabilize the delicate diplomacy that has galvanized worldwide efforts to slash planet-warming pollution and deploy zero-emission power. Without American engagement, efforts to cut emissions could stall in the decade ahead that’s seen as crucial for keeping Earth’s rising temperatures in check. Trump’s victory is “an alarming escalation of climate risk for the world’s most vulnerable communities,” said Harjeet Singh, a climate activist for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. “By stepping back from climate commitments, Trump’s actions threaten to unravel trust in a global system already strained by the indifference and inaction of wealthy nations.” Although Trump won’t be sworn in for two months, his election turns the US delegation to COP29 into lame ducks with diminished credibility and less leverage. It will severely complicate negotiations over how much public finance-rich countries can deliver to developing nations on the front lines of climate change, a key aim of discussions at this year’s summit. It’s also likely to constrain countries’ ambitions in setting new carbon-cutting pledges due next February. Beyond the fallout at COP29, there could be far more sweeping consequences. Another US retreat from climate cooperation has the potential to obliterate any lingering hope of keeping the world’s temperature rise below 1.5C, a critical goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement. The US has long been viewed as both an unreliable and necessary partner in annual climate talks. The country failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol that underpins the negotiations more than two decades ago, and it has partially reneged on its past pledge to steer billions of dollars to a UN climate fund. Don’t forget that the US is the largest shareholder of the World Bank, a key institution for financing the energy transition. Any dent in sustainable finance can ramp up the climate crisis, which anyway doesn’t care who is in the white house.  #carbonmarket #climatechange #ghg #carboncredits #netzero #earthood #earthoodies

The climate talks in Baku are officially over! COP29 opened with a bulldozing through of dangerous carbon markets and ended with a bulldozing through of an empty promise of rich countries’ legal obligations to protect human rights and the planet.  “COP29 was a dumpster fire. Except it’s not trash that’s burning— it’s our planet. And developed countries are holding both the matches and the firehose. Their refusal to pay up for climate action and harm, or to phase out fossil fuels, in line with their legal obligations, denies Global South countries their due and puts a livable future at risk,” commented Nikki Reisch, CIEL’s Director of Climate & Energy Program. “Big polluters are to blame for this insulting outcome. For decades, they have diluted their legal obligations and blocked climate negotiations from tackling the climate crisis with the urgency, ambition, and equity needed. By allowing carbon removal offsets into the climate regime and fossil fuel lobbyists into these negotiations, they’ve blown loopholes through ambition and let the fox into the henhouse. The same rich countries that will not pony up resources to ensure a global transition away from fossil fuels are propping up the fossil fuel industry with trillions of dollars in subsidies and investments in new projects.” Reisch highlighted that: “By shirking their legal duties, big polluters sought to make the Paris Agreement go up in smoke. Accountability for the climate crisis will not end with the weak agreement reached at COP29. Civil society movements will keep demanding justice, and polluters will continue to be held accountable in courtrooms and the court of public opinion around the world. The climate hearings at the International Court of Justice in December offer a chance to clarify states’ legal obligations under international law. That clarity may prove a powerful antidote to the political inertia and lowest common denominator outcomes on full display in Baku." Read more in our statement [link in the first comment] #COP29 #ClimateFinance #ClimateAction

#COP29 comes to an end: a lot of engagement, heated discussions and compromises. The most controversial topic was financial: rich nations should pay more to developing/poor countries, helping them to fight climate-related catastrofes and to increase #climate-resilience. #Environmental protection agencies and activists are frustrated with the conference results... Expectations are high for the next #COP30 to be hold in #Brazil (Belem).

"COP29 was a dumpster fire. Except it’s not trash that’s burning— it’s our planet. And developed countries are holding both the matches and the firehose. Their refusal to pay up for climate action and harm, or to phase out fossil fuels, in line with their legal obligations, denies Global South countries their due and puts a livable future at risk,” said Nikki Reisch, CIEL’s Director of Climate & Energy Program. "Wealthy countries failed to meet their legal obligations to provide their share in debt-free public finance, phase out fossil fuels without dangerous loopholes or distractions like carbon markets, and uphold human rights and civic space." "Paying to pollute will never be a climate solution, and carbon markets will never be climate finance. Creating a Paris-sanctioned carbon market that could be more dangerous than the scandal-ridden voluntary carbon markets, is not a win for people or the planet. It’s a win for big polluters and carbon cowboys." https://lnkd.in/dJyMaZtw

It’s disappointing to see the dilution of positive impacts from COP in recent years. As our communities are facing the impacts of climate change and our Pacific Island neighbours are on a timeline to loss of their sovereign nations it seems to have become about tokenism rather than positive action. #climatechangeaction

For those of us who believe in multilaterialism, the outcome of the US presidential election is a real damper ahead of the next UN Climate Conference in Baku. However, in times when the global community of states is unable or less able to act, the importance of non-state actors such as companies, NGOs, foundations, but also regions and cities is growing. They all need to take on more responsibility to drive change. I'm curious to see how this new division of labour will play out in Baku. Here is an analysis of what to expect from COP29 from my colleagues Wolfgang Blau and PHIL DREW, who will be on the ground in Baku. #COP29 #sustainablebusiness https://lnkd.in/e9h6ss5d

Developed nations have agreed to help channel “at least” $300bn a year into developing countries by 2035 to support their efforts to deal with climate change. However, the new climate-finance goal – agreed along with a range of other issues at the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan – has left developing countries bitterly disappointed. They were united in calling for developed countries to raise $1.3tn a year in climate finance. In the end, negotiators agreed on a looser call to raise $1.3tn each year from a wide range of sources, including private investment, by 2035. https://lnkd.in/ehwcBMXq