What's on the COP29 agenda?

Representatives from nearly 200 countries are set to gather in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22 for the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference, or COP29.

In July, COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev sent an official letter to the conference's parties and constituencies. According to the letter, the enhancement of ambition and the enabling of action are the two pillars of the conference.

Here are some key items on the agenda of COP29.

Climate finance

The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance will replace the previous goal, agreed upon in 2009 at the Copenhagen climate summit, where developed nations committed to mobilizing $100 billion per year by 2020 to support developing countries' climate action.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assessed that the goal was met for the first time in 2022, two years after the initial deadline.

At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in 2015, governments decided to set NCQG on climate finance prior to 2025, amounting to at least $100 billion per year and taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries. This new goal is meant to be adopted at COP29.

"As the focus in the international climate process, climate finance concerns the mutual trust between the Global North and Global South countries, developed and developing countries, and is the key to the progress of the multilateral process," said Xia Yingxian, an official of China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, at a press conference.

"Developed countries should fulfill their contribution obligations and continue to take the lead in mobilizing funds, encouraging other countries to participate voluntarily," Xia added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also urged wealthy nations to take greater responsibility in addressing climate change. "The countries that have done least to contribute to global warming are its greatest victims. Developed countries must deliver on their promises and support developing countries as they adapt to worsening climate impacts," Guterres said at the opening ceremony of the 46th annual meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 developing countries and China in 2022.

Guterres also called for developed nations to "tax the record fossil fuel profits and redirect them to countries that have suffered irreversible loss and damage from the climate crisis."

Carbon market

Carbon markets are governed under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which has been deeply contentious at COPs. Article 6.2 issues guidelines on the bilateral trade of carbon credits between countries. Article 6.4 creates a global carbon market overseen by a UN entity.

At the COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, negotiators reached a breakthrough agreement that established a broad rule book to regulate trading of carbon credits.

However, after two weeks of talks at COP28 in Dubai last year, countries failed to seal a deal on necessary details to operationalize a central carbon trading system.

Babayev said in his letter that the COP29 presidency is "committed to finalizing the operationalization of Article 6 this year as a priority."

An expert group elected under UN rules has already hammered out a framework for the multilateral trading system to ensure credits meet basic quality standards, according to the website of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Adaptation and mitigation

Mitigation and adaptation are two complementary ways people can respond to climate change. Mitigation refers to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting rising temperatures. Adaptation refers to actions that reduce the impact of climate change on communities.

In October, the latest emissions gap report released by the UN noted that if countries do not increase the ambition of their upcoming climate targets and start delivering on them immediately, the world is on course for a temperature increase of 2.6 degrees Celsius to 3.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels over the course of this century.

At COP29, countries are encouraged to set more ambitious climate pledges and submit their new Nationally Determined Contributions by February 2025.

Countries at COP28 committed to a framework of guidelines for National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) to help people adapt to climate disruptions, such as drought and flood. But the framework for adaptation lacks details, such as quantifiable targets for measuring progress or strategies for linking projects with climate finance.

In his letter, Babayev called for "urgent, incremental, transformational and country-driven adaptation action based on different national circumstances" and "continued and increased contributions to funds" for implementing NAPs.

Transparency

Parties to the Paris Agreement are required to submit Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) every two years, with the first submission due by December 31 this year.

Azerbaijan will lead by example and is working to submit its own BTR ahead of COP29, according to Babayev's letter. He also hopes countries will submit their first climate action progress reports during the conference ahead of December 31.

The BTRs are meant to describe a country's progress in reaching its climate goals and how much further they need to go in setting fresh goals by February 2025.

The BTRs will also offer insight into how much finance is currently needed in developing countries, both for transitioning their economies away from fossil fuels and for adapting to the conditions of a warmer world.