Overview
Day three of the 29th Annual United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 saw the end of the first part of the high-level segment for heads of state and other global leaders in Baku as well as the announcement of significant pledges.
In Depth
Below we share key developments:
- While Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev noted his country’s “minimal global emissions” (its total emissions equals 0.1%) and plans to increase gas production by up to one third over the next decade, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the world is at the “final countdown” to limit a global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
- Guterres restated the disparity between the rich causing climate change issues and the poor suffering the most from said issues and set out three immediate actions for world leaders to focus on:
- Emergency emissions reductions – cutting emissions by 9% annually to reach 43% of 2019 levels by 2030.
- Enhanced protection for people from climate change’s impact, bridging the adaptation finance gap.
- A new climate finance goal with increased public finance, innovative funding sources, and improved accessibility and transparency.
- In anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement, many may look to the United Kingdom for global climate change leadership.
- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that his country will aim for an 81% cut in emissions by 2035, updating a previous 78% pledge.
- Prime Minister Starmer also confirmed the end of a ban on new onshore wind projects and pledged not to issue new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea. He also confirmed the recent closure of the UK’s last coal power plant. However, no new funding was announced.
- Six new countries – El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Turkey – joined the COP28 pledge to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, bringing the total number to 31 countries.
- White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi announced new domestic nuclear energy deployment targets and a framework for action, which includes a target of 200 gigawatts of new US nuclear energy capacity by 2050 and outlines how to meet this goal. Meeting this target would triple the current US domestic nuclear energy capacity.
- Despite apparent progress, some climate change campaigners are unhappy about the climate finance investment models currently under discussion, which are not on par with grant-based financing. This matches the tone of some government leaders, such as Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser to Bangladesh, who said countries responsible for global warming should simply provide the funds to deal with the crisis.
- As most world leaders leave COP29 on day three, their teams of negotiators now turn to the details of the agenda and the high-level pledges announced over the last few days.
