COP29 Week One: Conference Is Told “Parties Must Remember That the Clock Is Ticking” as They Struggle To Make Progress on How To Raise $1 Trillion a Year

Key developments from the end of the first week of the 29th Annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) include:

• A report from the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance said the NCGC would need to increase to at least $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 if countries fail to act now.
• Although countries are struggling to agree on the revised annual amount, the Taskforce on Net Zero Policy released a report that found that while progress on net zero policy is advancing in a significant number of regions globally, the policy landscape is still insufficiently aligned with a 1.5°C future, consistent with ongoing global misalignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
• Germany’s Climate Envoy Jennifer Morgan has called China’s climate finance contributions in recent years “an important mini step.” She pointed to a statement from China’s Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang who told world leaders on November 12 that China has provided $24.5 billion to support other countries’ climate efforts since 2016. However, developed countries are reported to be lobbying to increase commitments from China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, among other “new polluters.”
• Multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank, are looking at how they can increase their share of funding. Ten have already indicated they plan to increase their funding by 60% to $120 billion a year.
• Separately, 50 global business leaders from high-emitting industries and the Industrial Transition Accelerator, a network of more than 700 financial institutions, issued an open letter urging governments to use proven policy measures to stimulate demand for green products and better seize the potential of industrial decarbonization.
• The Industrial Transition Accelerator has said that by putting appropriate policies in place, governments could unlock up to $1 trillion of investments and bring more than 500 green industrial plants awaiting financing to construction by 2030.
• The Colombian government’s call for a global treaty on energy transition minerals has been backed by several countries at COP29. Such a treaty would set global standards for the governance of mineral supply chains (for cobalt, lithium, and nickel in particular), look to increase economic opportunities for countries and people at the beginning of the chain, and establish “no-go zones” to protect nature.
• Countries are being urged to commit to an energy storage target of 1.5 terawatt by 2030, which would enable the much talked about tripling of world renewable energy capacity.
• The likely withdrawal of the United States from any future funding deal is pressuring delegates to find ways to secure much needed funds. As the first week of COP29 draws to a close and only limited progress appears to have been made, negotiation teams have been reminded that the clock is ticking.