PenInfo Desk: The annual U.N. climate summit kicked off Monday (11 November, 2024) with countries readying for tough talks on finance and trade, following a year of weather disasters that have emboldened developing countries in their demands for climate cash.
COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev said, “Colleagues, we are on a road to ruin. But these are not future problems. Climate change is already here.
He also said “Whether you see them or not, people are suffering in the shadows. They are dying in the dark and they need more than compassion, more than prayers and paperwork. They are crying out for leadership and action. COP29 is the unmissable moment to chart a new path forward for everyone.
“We need much more from all of you. “COP29 is a moment of truth for the Paris Agreement.
He told, it will test our commitment to the multilateral climate system. We must now demonstrate that we are prepared to meet the goals we have set ourselves.”
UN climate chief Simon Stiell told negotiators at COP29 in Baku that setting an ambitious new climate finance target is crucial for the well-being of all nations, including the wealthiest and most powerful.
“Let’s dispense with any idea that climate finance is charity;” runaway climate change is impacting “every single individual in the world one way or another,” Mr. Stiell said on opening ceremony.
Mr. Stiell underscored that the UNFCCC process “is the only place where we can address the rampant climate crisis, and to credibly hold each other to account to act on it. And we know this process is working. Because without it, humanity would be headed towards five degrees of global warming.”
He gave stark examples of why a new deal on climate finance is so critical, saying that every country would pay a terrible price if at least two-thirds of the world’s countries cannot afford to rapidly reduce their emissions.
Moreover, the entire world economy could collapse if countries are unable to strengthen their supply chains in the face of rising costs linked to climate shocks, such as falling water levels in the Panama Canal which had a dramatic impact on shipping volumes.
“I’m as frustrated as anyone that one single COP can’t deliver the full transformation that every nation needs… [but] it is here that Parties need to agree a way out of this mess. That’s why here in Baku, we must agree a new global climate finance goal.”
To that end, he called for robust reforms to the global financial system, which he believes is essential for nations to address climate impacts effectively.
Mr. Stiell wrapped up his remarks with a reminder of the historic importance of COP29.
“We cannot leave Baku without a substantial outcome,” he said, challenging delegates to “stand and deliver.”
He called on every nation to show that global cooperation is “rising to this moment” rather than faltering.
Officially the 29th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COP29 will see countries seek to establish a new annual climate financing target to replace the $100 billion pledge set in 2009, which expires at the end of the year and which many say is far less than what is required to cope with fast-rising air and sea temperatures.
Peninfo/desk/12.11.24/02.10am