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The 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Baku, Azerbaijan, began November 11, 2024. Here’s a look at what happened on the tenth day of COP29. Also read the diary for November 11, November 12, November 13, November 14, November 15, November 16, November 18, November 19 and November 20.
The next text on the GGA released on November 21 still had a few options around the language related to means of implementation in paragraphs 11(d), 13 and 22, the inclusion of a standing agenda item on GGA in the negotiations under the Paris Agreement in paragraph 31, the invitation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in paragraph 38 to establish a task force to provide guidance on the implementation of the GGA and language around the inclusion of transformational adaptation and its related indicators in paragraph 41.
Many countries lamented in the ‘Qurultay’ plenary event that GGA without the money is meaningless for them. Some Parties also want the inclusion of references to the Adaptation Fund in the GGA text. The Adaptation Fund (AF) has received only US$ 61 million against its annual goal of US$ 300 million. The adaptation finance gap stands at US$ 187-US$ 359 billion. Read more about the wait of adaptation negotiations for finance at COP29 here.
The latest iteration of the draft decision text on the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG) was released in the early hours of November 21. This is a shorter and streamlined version of previous drafts and contains some converging elements between developed and developing countries’ positions.
The text carries two options within the section on Goal Formulation, which broadly represent the views of G77 and China bloc on one hand and the developed countries on the other. Neither option refers to a clear quantum for climate finance. The first option frames the NCQG in the trillions of dollars with a ‘provision’ goal in the billions. It also talks about voluntary contributions towards climate finance by developing countries, while stating that such provisions would not be counted under the NCGQ.
The second option, however, frames the NCQG as ‘global finance for climate action’ with investment targets and a ‘mobilisation’ target in the billions. It further contains a reference to domestic resource mobilisation as one of the methods to achieve the investment target. These issues are in complete contradiction to Article 9 of the Paris Agreement and fall outside the mandate of the NCQG—risking the dilution of responsibilities of developed countries.
Some of the other problematic concerns in the new text include the mention of debt-for-climate swaps and voluntary carbon markets in the section on instruments and phasing out of substantial climate subsidy packages in developed countries by 2028, which can have adverse impacts on developing countries.
Several Global South country blocs have raised concerns about the lack of a clear quantum in the latest draft text. However, the G77 and China, AILAC, LMDC and AOSIS agree that their views are better represented in the new text. Developed countries have expressed disappointment at the new text and claimed that a quantum cannot be discussed without clarity on other elements of the goal.
The COP Presidency is expected to release another iteration of the text on November 22 after further consultations with ministers.
In the early hours of November 21, two draft texts on Article 6.2 and 6.4 were published. Experts expressed concerns over the watering down of the Article 6.2 text, raising issues on lack of transparency and accountability. Countries from Latin America and Europe have suggested a stronger language in the text regarding the process for identifying inconsistencies in the authorisation of the credits. Read more here.
Concerns have been raised on Article 6.4,which will allow countries to trade carbon credits for climate action. Carbon credits represent a tonne of carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) reduced or avoided . One major issue highlighted was that projects with a high risk of reversal (where captured CO2 escapes into the atmosphere) may well be accepted in Article 6.4 under the current rules, according to Carbon Market Watch.
More than 80 countries have put together a proposal that could potentially bring in additional financing to the $1.3 trillion climate finance target being proposed by many developing nations at COP29.
Finance can be mobilised by redirecting fossil fuel subsidies. “That is subsidies away from oil and gas, aviation, shipping etcetera. That is one of the ways of doing that,” Shantal Maxine Munro Knight, Party Head of Barbados and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office of Barbados, told Down To Earth (DTE). The global fossil fuel investments averaged $958 billion in 2021-2022, and fossil fuel subsidies averaged $1.1 trillion per year for the same period. Read more here.