COP29 summit Azerbaijan: live coverage

The 29^th iteration of the Conference of the Parties is now underway in Baku, Azerbaijan. Over the next two weeks, we’ll bring you the essential information from each thematic day. Will national delegates make a genuine impact, or are we looking at another greenwashing fest?

We’re back for yet another Conference of the Parties.

Some 67,000 global leaders, delegates, journalists, and fossil fuel lobbyists – let’s face it – have all convened in Baku, Azerbaijan to negotiate on all things climate policy across the next two weeks.

On occasion, the summit has delivered promising treaties and ambitions, primarily the 2015 Paris Agreement framework, which saw 196 nations pledge to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2030.

By and large, however, the majority of meetings have fallen woefully short in terms of tangible ecological impact. Stay with us as we wade through a tornado of lip service to bring you the notable updates each day.

Will we be disappointed? Probably. Are we hopeful some optimism can be gleaned? Regrettably, yes.

We’ll be highlighting a handful of notable points from each day at the summit, and any ‘major’ developments throughout the evening will be added retrospectively the following morning.

Without further ado, let’s separate the wheat from the chaff. Remember to hit that refresh button!

Finance, Investment and Trade Day (Thurs 14th Nov)

The Taliban are in the house

Today is all about working towards the touted goal of signing off on $1trn in climate finance per year. There is a significant distraction, though. What the hell is the Taliban doing sat at the negotiating table?

• Afghanistan may be one of the nations most affected by the impacts of climate change, but attendees and outside folk are obviously uncomfortable with the idea of mobilising funds for the Taliban. It adds a fresh dose of  lunacy to an already faltering summit.

• I wonder if the nation’s rich untapped deposits of rare Earth minerals will become a bargaining chip in the coming days and weeks.

More early procrastination

• Little reminder: the current policies in play will reportedly lead to 2.7°C of warming. ‘Minimal progress’ has been made this year in denting those projections, according to the Climate Action Tracker project.

• EU Parliament members vote to delay a landmark deforestation bill aimed at preventing the destruction of forests for supermarket goods. Greenpeace has called the move ‘absolutely shameful’ while the WWF lamented ‘political posturing over climate action.’ The bill is now, in theory, coming into effect in summer 2026.

Would you believe it, that’s all that’s worth reporting today. We’d hoped to hear how delegates are going to come together to facilitate the 1 trillion a year in needed climate finance.

Despite it being Finance Day, however, on that front it’s been pure radio silence. We’re as exasperated as you at this point. See you tomorrow… sigh.

World Leaders Climate Action Summit (Wed 13^th Nov)

‘What on earth are we doing in this gathering, over and over and over?’

It’s the second part of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit. That means global delegates will be taking the stage and reading speeches… riveting. Will today have a little more substance?

• Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, has clearly been stewing over the last couple days and decided to go off-script with his speech.

• ‘People there eat, drink, meet and take photos together – while images of voiceless leaders play on and on and on in the background,’ he said. ‘To me, this seems exactly like what happens in the real world every day. Life goes on, with its old habits, and our speeches – full of good words about fighting climate change – change nothing.’ Nail on the head!
  

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama slammed world leaders for not listening to each other’s speeches, adding that ‘good words’ spoken during the COP29 climate summit will not change anything https://t.co/o66xVOO1fo pic.twitter.com/X0iimOjlYn

— Reuters (@Reuters) November 13, 2024

• Argentina has withdrawn its delegation from the conference after just two days. Exactly what is in the offering remains up for debate, but several experts predict the nation is about to pull out of the Paris Agreement. Great.

Tempering expectations

• Campaigners are calling out ‘weak language’ already echoing around the room in finance discussions. Strong commitments are needed to help poorer nations adapt, but thus far the signs aren’t good.

• Brazil announced some changes to its NDCs, including  emission cuts of 59% to 67% by 2035. However, it remained awfully quiet on scaling up fossil fuels and its known plans of increasing their production by 36% in that same timeframe.

• Nuclear power is garnering some enthusiasm, as it did in the UAE last year. El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, and Turkey bring the total of nuclear signatories to 31. When is this going to start making an actual difference for all the big chat?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but day three has largely provided zilch (again). Au revoir to France and any chance of its participation.

World Leaders Climate Action Summit (Tues 12^th Nov)

Fossil fuels are a ‘gift from God.’

The first ludicrous soundbite has arrived before attendees could even finish their first eco-friendly coffee.

• Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyez, bizarrely told the summit earlier that fossil fuels are a ‘gift from God,’ during a rant about ‘Western fake news media’ criticising the host-nation’s reliance on oil and gas. He claims that Azerbaijan is responsible for just 0.1% of global emissions.

• UN chief Antoinio Guterres is always good for a rousing speech at these things. He called 2024 a ‘masterclass in climate destruction,’ citing extreme weather events like the floods in Valencia and Hurricane Milton in the US as being ‘supercharged’ by human-made climate change.

• He listed three priorities. Emergency emission reduction plans led by the G20, protecting the most vulnerable nations with hundreds of billions of dollars, and delivering the much-coveted ‘finance goal’ – which should be at last $1trn annually. What are the odds any of that happens?

• ‘The world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price,’ Guterres said. He then hammered home the point that all economies will be upended by the disruption to supply chain stocks. Shrewd… let’s see if the scare tactic is at all effective.

• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a national target of 81% carbon emissions reduction by 2035. It’s apparently ‘the starting point, not the finish line.’ Cool, we’ll expect that to be honoured in its entirety at a minimum then!

• Cutting through the noise and waffle, the figures on the global displaced population make for grim reading. A UNHCR report found that three-quarters of the 120 million people are residing in regions experiencing ‘climate breakdown.’

That’s all of note for today. Let’s see if anyone delivers anything of substance tomorrow during the second half of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit.

COP29 begins (Mon 11^th Nov)

Delegates arrive, in short numbers

• Grim start. Many regular summit delegates from the developed nations won’t be attending over the coming fortnight. Our expectations were low, but damn!

• Donald Trump obviously isn’t going (nor does he even believe in climate change), Xi Jinping of China has made a habit of staying home during COP, Germany’s Olaf Scholz is preoccupied with his crumbling coalition, and France’s Emmanuel Macron is hunkered down is Paris – given the nation’s long-standing tetchy relations with Azerbaijan.

• EU Commission president Ursula von der Layen isn’t attending, either, meaning her cabinet of COP veterans, including ex Spanish environment minister Teresa Ribera, and former Danish environment minister Dan Jorgensen are waylaid in Brussels.

Lip service appetisers

• No surprises as of yet. The opening ceremony involved a lot of urgent talk about addressing climate change and global cooperation. We’ll see.
  

• The stage has been set for world leaders and ‘non-party’ stakeholders to discuss finance, global resource allocation, and adjusting Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

• Nothing much to report, yet. Check back tomorrow for more than handshakes and photo opportunities.

Day 1 at #COP29 is a wrap! 🌍

Over the next two weeks, delegates from 198 Parties will tackle critical climate issues at the world’s largest climate summit.

Much is at stake.

It’s time to stand and deliver. pic.twitter.com/AKu9i5G1Ry

— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) November 12, 2024