• The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will take place in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku from November 11 to 22. 

• Record-breaking floods in Spain, violent storms in Florida and wildfires in South America — these are just a few examples of the extreme weather events accelerating and intensifying across the world. With the cost of inaction clearer than ever, financing for clean alternatives to the fossil fuels which are driving climate change will be top of the agenda at COP29.

• Each year, negotiators build on progress made at the previous year’s COP, strengthening aspirations and commitments, and pushing for new agreements, based on the latest scientific findings on the climate, and the role of human activity in the crisis.

• COP29 will bring together leaders from governments, business and civil society to advance concrete solutions to the defining issue of our time.

What is COP?

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a multilateral treaty adopted in 1992, shortly after the first assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1990, to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system. 

• Since entering into force in 1994, the UNFCCC has provided the basis for international climate negotiations, including landmark agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2015).

• The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the main decision-making body of the UNFCCC.

• It brings together 198 countries and the European Union.

• The inaugural COP gathering took place in Berlin, Germany, in March 1995, and today the COP secretariat is headquartered in Bonn. 

• COPs serve as the formal meeting place each year for the Parties to negotiate and agree on how to tackle climate change, reduce emissions and limit global warming. A primary task at COPs is the examination of national reports and emission inventories submitted by participating countries.

• These reports offer essential insights into each country’s actions and their progress toward achieving the overarching goals of the Convention.

COPs are meant to be inclusive affairs and, as well as world leaders and government representatives, a diverse range of people from all aspects of society, from business leaders and climate scientists to Indigenous Peoples and youth, are involved, taking part in order to share insights and best practices to strengthen climate action that benefits all.

• COPs are hosted annually in different countries. COP28 was held in Dubai. Brazil will host COP30 in 2025.

• The COP presidency rotates among the five recognised UN regions — Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe and others. This rotation ensures that different corners of the world have the opportunity to host and showcase their commitment to addressing climate challenges.

What is the Paris Agreement?

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on December 12, 2015. It entered into force on November 4, 2016.

• It mobilised global collective action to pursue efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, and to act to adapt to the already existing effects of climate change.

• The Paris Agreement works on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action by countries. The next updated national climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), are due in 2025.

Focus of COP29

• A top priority for negotiators in Baku will be agreeing on a new climate finance goal, one that ensures every country has the means to take much stronger climate action, slash greenhouse gas emissions and build resilient communities. 

• The aim is for the conference to help unlock the trillions of dollars that developing countries need in order to mitigate harmful carbon emissions, adapt to climate change and cope with the loss and damage it has caused.

• The conference will also be a key moment for countries to present their updated national climate action plans under the Paris agreement, which are due by early 2025. 

• If done right, these plans would limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and double as investment plans advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Beyond the conference walls, there are many positive signs that the clean energy transition is gathering pace, and already paying huge dividends, in terms of the creation of jobs and boosting the economies that are embracing it.

• Renewables are entering the energy system at an unprecedented rate, and electricity from new wind and solar power is now cheaper in most places than electricity from fossil fuels.

• A future powered by renewable energy is now inevitable. Those who take decisive action and invest in clean technologies today are expected to reap the biggest rewards in the years to come.

• Even before the end of COP29, delegates will be ironing out the details of their improved national climate plans, which amongst other targets will focus on transitioning away from fossil fuels, and keeping the world on track to a no more than 1.5°C increase in global temperatures.

India to focus on climate finance, accountability

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the COP29, and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav may also be absent, with Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh leading the 19-member delegation instead. 

• India’s national statement is scheduled for November 18-19.

• India’s key priorities at the conference are likely to focus on ensuring accountability of developed nations on climate finance, strengthening resilience for vulnerable communities, and achieving an equitable energy transition, experts anticipate.

Why does limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C matter?

• At 2°C of global warming, there would be widespread and severe impacts on people and nature. A third of the world’s population would be regularly exposed to severe heat, leading to health problems and more heat-related deaths.

• Almost all warm water coral reefs would be destroyed, and the Arctic sea ice would melt entirely at least one summer per decade, with devastating impacts on the wildlife and communities they support. 

• We cannot rule out the possibility that irreversible loss of ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic could be triggered, leading to several metres of sea level rise over centuries to come. 

• At 1.5°C, the impacts would be serious, but less severe. There would be lower risks of food and water shortages, lower risks to economic growth and fewer species at risk of extinction.

• Threats to human health from air pollution, disease, malnutrition and exposure to extreme heat would also be lower.

• That is why every fraction of a degree of warming matters, and why countries are dedicated to keeping the prospect of holding temperature rises to 1.5°C alive.

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