COP29 kicks off in Azerbaijan: What is on agenda of major climate event
- 11 November, 11:53
The annual UN climate event has kicked off in Azerbaijan, bringing together thousands of representatives from nearly 200 countries.
The 29th session of the UN’s Climate Change Conference of the Parties to the Convention will take place in the South Caucasus nation’s capital Baku between November 11 and 22. More than 32,000 people have registered to attend the COP29 this year. All 198 participating countries have ratified the convention.
What is on the COP29 agenda?
A key goal at COP 29 is agreeing on establishing a new climate finance fund for developing nations.
Labelled as “finance COP”, the climate summit this year is focused on getting more cash to developing countries to help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the growing impacts of climate change. According to UN-backed report, over $2 trillion is needed for the emerging countries, excluding China, annually by 2030 to halt global warming. A deal of $1 trillion annually for the developing countries is at the top of COP 29’s agenda.
Another issue high on the agenda of COP 29 is agreements on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from all participating countries.
An NDC, or Nationally Determined Contribution, is a nation's strategy for addressing climate change, outlining its objectives for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the objectives established in the Paris Agreement. Countries are required to revise their NDCs every five years, with the next updates expected in early 2025. Therefore, this year’s summit provides an ideal opportunity to solidify the goals of each participating member.
Addressing the opening ceremony of COP29 on Monday, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell made a passionate plea for urgent, global cooperation on climate change. He pledged that clean energy and infrastructure investment will reach two trillion dollars in 2024, almost twice that of fossil fuels.
