New climate finance target top priority of Baku agreement: COP29 letter to member states | World news

Mukhtar Babayev, President of the UN COP29, called on members to improve their climate plans to make them 1.5°C compatible and to make resources available to achieve these plans.

COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev delivers a speech at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue meeting on April 25. (AFP Photo) {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}}

“The main negotiating priority of the COP29 Presidency is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Quantified Collective Target (NCQG) on climate finance appropriate to the urgency and scale of the problem, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing country parties. Our efforts must include the full scope and potential of the resources that need to be made available,” Babayev said in the first letter sent on Wednesday to all 198 member states of the UN Climate Change Convention.

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“Rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty in the international environment must not distract us from the imperative to collaborate and address climate change as the greatest transnational challenge of the century,” the letter states.

The COP29 climate talks will take place in Azerbaijan from November 11-22 and will be held in an election year.

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At least 64 countries, including the European Union (EU), have held or are about to hold elections this year.

Among them, the US presidential elections will be fundamental, as the country is historically the biggest polluter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Donald Trump would ensure the United States withdraws from the Paris climate accord for a second time if he wins the presidency again in November, Politico reported June 28.

Read too: Global conflict and climate finance in focus ahead of COP29 in Baku

The statement came after years of conservatives paving the way for Trump to withdraw from a global agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

HT reported that the main agenda of the UN’s annual climate meeting, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November, would be to negotiate a new target for climate finance, which currently has a minimum floor of US$ 100 billion per year after 2025, which should help developing countries in the transition to a low-carbon future.

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According to the High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, at least $2.4 trillion is needed every year to invest in renewable energy, adaptation and other climate-related issues in developing countries, excluding China.

Negotiations on the new financial target have been fraught with challenges and lack of consensus so far.

Differences between rich and developing countries over their contribution to the new quantified climate finance target remain a source of contention, according to Third World Network, an independent nonprofit that followed the negotiations in Cartagena, Colombia, in April.

At an Ad Hoc Work Programme (AHWP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Cartagena, Colombia, from April 23 to 26, the US said the New Quantified Collective Target (NCQG) is “voluntary” for those who “choose to pay,” referring to Article 9.3 of the 2015 Paris climate pact that deals with climate finance.

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The United States repeated its position that contributions to the new fund, intended to replace the existing $100 billion a year target, should be made voluntary again at Bonn climate talks in June. The Arab group, Cuba and African nations have asked to determine the quantum of the new target.

The COP29 Presidency called on member states to submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) aligned to the 1.5 standard, also stating that Azerbaijan would lead by example, together with its COP28 and COP30 partners, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil.

In a first step towards intensifying discussions, the COP29 Presidency announced that it has appointed Ministers Dan Jorgensen of Denmark and Yasmine Fouad of Egypt as ministerial pairs for the New Quantified Collective Target on Climate Finance (NCQG).

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These ministers will be additional focal points for global negotiations and help find common ground between countries.

The COP29 Presidency will host Heads of Delegations in Azerbaijan from 26-27 July, who will focus on the NCQG and ensuring progress in negotiations across all pillars of the Paris Agreement, including key mandates such as Article 6 (carbon markets).

“As the COP29 Presidency, we encourage all Parties to submit their own 1.5-aligned NDCs as early as possible and well before the 10 February 2025 deadline. NDCs should be informed by science and the outcome of the Global Stocktake, in light of different national circumstances, and promote investment and support,” the letter states, adding that “NDCs should be informed by science and the outcome of the Global Stocktake, in light of different national circumstances, … COP29 Presidency will lead by example. As we announced with our Troika partners, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil are working to submit NDCs aligned with 1.5.

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COP29 CEO Elnur Soltanov and Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva are leading an inter-agency working group to submit Azerbaijan’s NDC early and prepare its first Long-Term Development Strategy (LTS).

Azerbaijan will integrate its NDC into its LTS and we call on all Parties to ensure that they are working within their respective governments to integrate climate action into their sustainable development aspirations and priorities.”

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