COP29 has kicked off, with a fight over what should be on the agenda and Brazil announcing a 2035 climate target
Opening speeches and agenda fight
COP29 got underway in Baku this morning with opening speeches from the UAE’s COP28 President Sultan Al-Jaber, the (now official) COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev of Azerbaijan, and the head of the UN’s climate arm Simon Stiell.
Al-Jaber boasted that 2024 saw record renewable energy growth, 55 companies have joined an oil and gas decarbonisation charter, and the UAE’s Alterra climate fund has allocated $6.5 billion. He didn’t mention that some of that money has been invested in a gas pipeline.
After being formally elected as COP29 president, Babayev then warned “we are on a road to ruin”, adding “people are suffering in the shadows; they are dying in the dark”, so “we need much more from all of you”.
He said negotiators had made progress on some aspects of the post-2025 climate finance goal due to be agreed at COP29 – including a ten-year time-frame, transparency and “access” features.
But there are differing views on how to achieve the trillions of dollars in climate finance developing countries need, Babayev said, adding that he has “heard that a realistic goal for what the public sector can directly provide and mobilise seems to be in the hundreds of billions”. In the Guardian, he writes that “the onus cannot fall entirely on government purses”.
Stiell added a personal touch, becoming emotional as he put up a picture of him with his neighbour Florence in front of her hurricane-destroyed house on their native Caribbean island of Carriacou (part of Grenada).
Simon Stiell speaks at COP29 in front of a picture of him and his neighbour Florence (UNFCCC/Kiara Worth)
He defended the UN climate process as “the only place we have” to “credibly hold each other to account to act” on the climate crisis. He said the process is working because, without it, humanity would be heading towards 5C of global warming.
The opening session was then suspended so that what makes it onto the summit’s agenda can be negotiated off camera. The European Union is opposing an item put forward by China and its BASIC allies to negotiate trade measures.
The other debate, according to a developing-country negotiator, is whether the UAE Dialogue on reacting to the Global Stocktake decision from last year is listed under “matters relating to finance” or not.
Some developing nations want it there, so it can focus solely on finance. “It’s meant to be a finance discussion about money from developed to developing [countries],” said the negotiator.
Previously, developed countries have pushed for the dialogue to have a broader focus, including transitioning away from fossil fuels.
Negotiators in discussion ath the COP29 opening plenary (Picture: Kiara Worth/UNFCCC)
Brazil’s new 2035 target
On Friday night, the Brazilian government – which will host COP30 next year – announced a new 2035 emissions reduction target. It plans to cut emissions by 59-67% from 2005 levels, on the way to net zero by 2050.
Few other details have been announced so far and Brazil’s full UN climate plan – known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – has yet to be published.
But the 59-67% target falls short of what Brazilian NGO Climate Observatory has said is compatible with Brazil’s fair share towards limiting global warming to 1.5C – which would be a 92% cut.
Climate Observatory said the new 2035 target is “misaligned with Brazil’s fair contribution to stabilising global warming at 1.5C”.
Natalie Unterstell, president of the Talanoa Institute, a Brazilian think-thank, said “the band target and the Brazilian government’s silence on the transition away from fossil fuels suggest weaknesses”.
Andreas Sieber from climate campaign group 350.org called it “minimally sufficient”, adding that it “reflects the imperfect yet persistent progress of climate diplomacy”.
The UAE announced its NDC last week – also seen by campaigners as falling short because it lacks a commitment to cut oil and gas production. Azerbaijan’s plan is expected at COP29, and most others will come next year.
