CCAP’s Post

On #COP29 Finance Day, the spotlight was on accelerating the mobilization of resources to achieve global climate goals, emphasizing equitable access to funding for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience initiatives. The international standards system plays a vital role in this effort, providing frameworks to enhance transparency, accountability, and alignment in climate finance—enabling real, measurable progress. To advance this mission, we hosted the second ISO Sustainable Finance Roundtable, bringing together key stakeholders from the global financial ecosystem. Together, we explored actionable steps for leveraging international standards to support the financing of the transition. Learn also more about the work of ISO/TC 322 on Sustainable Finance and join us in shaping the standards that will drive a resilient, sustainable economy: https://bit.ly/3CxYUHW #BSIatCOP #SustainableFinance #COP29 #ClimateAction #Standards

The final negotiations for #COP29 have concluded. I’m grateful to the Future Leaders Network for the opportunity to attend the conference as a Youth Delegate this year. It was inspiring to see so many youth ambassadors advocating for the interests of our generation and those to come, whose lives will be directly impacted by decisions made today. 💡 This year’s outcomes included agreement on the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, which emphasises the need to enhance ambition within this decade to maintain global temperatures within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. A commitment was made to scale up climate finance to at least 300 billion USD annually by 2035, emphasising the critical importance of reducing the cost of capital and mobilising more public finance for developing countries by 2030. 💡 #COP29 also achieved progress with the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, setting out how carbon markets will operate under the Agreement. Beyond the negotiations, the conference also served as a valuable platform for sharing innovative policies and technologies. 💡 Looking ahead, the International Court of Justice is expected to provide clarity on countries' climate obligations under international law in the coming months. Additionally, nations will continue updating their #NDCs to align with the Paris Agreement. Overall, it’s clear that collaboration and ambition are essential as we work toward achieving global climate goals and ensuring equity for present and future generations. 🌍 #UNFCCC #FLN #NCQG #ICJ

[COP 29 OUTCOMES] I’m back from #COP29, and here’s my yearly summary of highlights: 💰 Climate Finance/NCQG: Developed countries have agreed to "take the lead" to channel at least $300 billion a year into developing countries by 2035 - without accounting for inflation, this is three times the Copenhagen 100 bn, set to expire in 2025, but still largely insufficient to address mitigation, adaptation, and L&D financing needs. Beyond the numbers, there is noteworthy wording as to sources (calling on “all actors” to scale up funds from “all public and private sources”, including MDBs, to “at least $1.3tn” by 2035) and contributor base (encouraging developing countries to contribute to climate finance “on a voluntary basis”).  Aiming to close the finance gap, the Baku to Belém roadmap to $1.3 tn is tasked with producing a report on how to scale up finance at COP30 in Brazil. Much finance work lies ahead: to define what actually counts as climate finance; to develop models that don’t drive countries further into debt; to review subsidies; and, perhaps more importantly, as the IPCC AR6 found there is no shortage of global capital, to redirect the money pipeline to the climate transition. 📈 Carbon markets: COP29 broke a decade-long stalemate and delivered on both Article 6.2 (country-to-country trading), where high-level decisions with regard to authorizations, registries, and integrity/a process to identify and correct inconsistencies were reached; and Article 6.4 (Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism), with the establishment of a mandate to Subsidiary Bodies to ramp up implementation, mandatory human rights checks, and alignment with the “best available science”. ⚡ Energy transition: COP28 agreed on “transitioning away from fossil fuels” language, but at COP29 there was no decision on how to implement this transition, and no explicit mention of fossil fuels in the outcome documents.  📊 GST: there was no agreement on how last year’s global stocktake/UAE Dialogue should move forward. 🌎 Geopolitics/governance: negotiations were overshadowed by the likelihood of the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement/the Convention, criticism of the Azerbaijani COP presidency, Argentina recalling its delegates, and accounts of Saudi Arabia changing a text under negotiation. There were calls, including by former UNSG Ban Ki-moon, for reform of the COP process. COP29 delivered a mixed bag of incremental progress and challenges. 2024 is likely to be the hottest year on record, and extreme climate events have cost over US$2 trillion in the last decade, a context that makes COP29 results look paltry. But I won’t join the “Flop29” chorus: by striking deals on key agenda items, COP29 is still a step forward, and reaffirms climate cooperation in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic tension. As imperfect as climate multilateralism is, we’re worse off without it. Watch this space for a more detailed account and updates on legal topics I discussed in Baku.

A good start for the first day of COP29 with approval of Article 6.4 mechanism, laying the foundation for companies to trade carbon emissions reductions.

✨ Day one of #COP29 kicked off with an early agreement on Article 6.4 standards, setting a new north star on quality for the market to closely follow. 🙌 This new universally acceptable benchmark on integrity provides more clarity for project developers and investors and follows years of hard work from the Supervisory Body 6.4 Secretariat and those in the negotiation room. Congratulations to all involved. The market now has the rules it needs to progress at pace. As we move forward, we must ensure Article 6.4 rules deliver methodologies and projects that foster deep collaboration with host countries to support sustainable development AND mobilise climate finance at scale.  Find out more about Article 6 and what the COP negotiations mean for carbon markets in our recent Environmental Finance interview: https://lnkd.in/eu8btw2e #CarbonMarkets #Article6 #COP29 #Baku

Statement on the outcome of #COP29 and the new finance goal (#NCQG) by IMAL's Iskander Erzini Vernoit, published in African Arguments alongside comments from other Africans engaged in the discussions: "Baku was a betrayal of the world’s vulnerable, of the Paris Agreement, and of common sense. The COP29 decision on the new finance goal represents a staggering lack of imagination and solidarity from the Global North. "$300 billion per year as a mobilisation goal for 2035 would be a laughable joke, except it is deadly serious. People will lose their lives as a result of the unwillingness to take tough political decisions at COP29. According to some analyses, developing countries easily require over $1 trillion per year in grant-equivalent terms to equitably address adaptation and loss and damage alone, not counting mitigation and energy transition. This $300 billion, like the $100 billion goal it replaces, will likely be largely non-concessional loans. Meanwhile, the North’s subsidies for wars and fossil fuels amount to trillions per year. "This decision jeopardises the delivery of the aims of the Paris Agreement and UN Framework Convention, throwing national climate target-setting and delivery into deep uncertainty. "Amid rushed non-transparent processes, developed countries weaponised the fears of developing countries, who felt held hostage to the need to agree something before the Trump administration takes office. However, it didn’t have to be this way. The short-sighted inability to challenge the Global North’s un-ambition will likely be regretted, as will the COP Presidencies Troika’s insistence on closing any deal regardless of its contents. "Nevertheless, the fight against catastrophic climate change must move forward, in greater solidarity with those threatened, to become more clear-eyed about the problems and solutions, more unified and more politically assertive than before." 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eMdhdcum

#COP29 marked it’s official closure yesterday, with extended sessions, divided positions and mixed emotions on good, bad and imperfect sides of the final outcome(s). For starters - COP is not just about science, it it a complex arena where decisions are driven by national interests, political will, geopolitical alliances, public pressure, media scrutiny, vulnerability and to a certain extent compromises! Key outcomes: 🌐Article 6.2: Internationally Tradeable Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) under cooperative approaches 👉🏻Countries now have clear guidelines for authorizing and tracking carbon credit trades, with robust technical reviews ensuring transparency and environmental integrity 👉🏻Interoperability of registries was agreed upon with private registries functioning alongside a UN registry. 👉🏻Rules to prevent outdated mitigation outcomes from entering the system were adopted. 👉🏻There remains an element of ambiguity with the word "If known" for participating parties/entities covered by authorization. 🌐Article 6.4, also known as Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) 👉🏻As soon as methodology and registries are approved, projects could get registered 👉🏻Special circumstances of the LDCs and SIDS to be considered with respect to exemption on share of proceeds for adaptation 👉🏻Afforestation and reforestation activities of CDM may transition to A6.4 mechanism after meeting certain conditions. 🌐New Collective Quantified Goal (NCGQ) - What changed over time 👉🏻It went from the initial 25 to 20 pages, then reduced to 5 pages and finally with some adjustments, a 6 pager document was adopted amidst stiff opposition from key developing economies. 👉🏻Quantum of fund: The final text recognizes the huge climate finance gap for mitigation and adaptation. It sets a floor of annual support of USD 300 billion (by 2035) by developed economies through a wide variety of sources- public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources. Demand of developing countries for setting atleast USD 1.3 trillion annual target remains unmet! 👉🏻Accounting and Transparency: Sets a timeline by inviting financial support disclosures by 2028 through Common Reporting Templates for support provided/mobilized in 2025 and 2026. 👉🏻Considers scaling up concessional finance for vulnerable economies within the developing countries that have significant capacity constraints, such as LDCs and SIDS. 🌐Delayed NAP Assessment: The national adaptation plan (NAP) assessment has been postponed to 2025, missing the 2021 deadline. However, countries agreed on the global goal on adaptation, with new guidance for the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience. The Baku Adaptation Road Map and high-level dialogue on adaptation were also established. Signing off updates for this year with a bonus video capturing the engagement at the COP :) Big thanks to Michael Hayes and the entire KPMG delegation, as well as my wonderful team back home! 🌟

❓Did #COP29 miss the mark on a #JustEnergyTransition? Key governance concerns from this year's #COP centred on lack of accountability (the agreement is vague on who is responsible for delivering the funds and how progress will be measured. This raises doubts about whether the goal will be met and if the funds will reach those most in need) and transparency issues (concerns were voiced about the consultation process for the finance goal, with some developing countries feeling it favoured richer nations). But did COP29 meet any expectations? Here, colleagues at the SEI — Stockholm Environment Institute share their key takeaways on climate finance, nationally determined contributions (NDCs), fossil fuel phase-out, and adaptation plans as well as next-stage expectations ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dm3qt8pY A just energy transition requires not just funding, but strong governance to ensure accountability and equity.

🌍 #COP29: Highlights from NCQG Talks 🌍 The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) negotiations at #COP29 mark a crucial step for developed countries to deliver on their climate finance commitments to countries with heightened vulnerability and limited response capacity. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) view unconditional grants and concessional finance as essential to prevent further debt accumulation and protect their limited fiscal space. Developing countries are calling for a minimum public funding floor to ensure they don’t have to choose between development objectives and climate action. Meanwhile, developed countries emphasise the need to mobilise finance in many forms and from all sources—especially private investment. Across the board, there is a consensus that agreeing on a new ambitious financial target is critical now. This target should support all countries in achieving 1.5°C-aligned national emissions goals, ensuring equitable and sustainable pathways to net zero. #ClimateFinance #NetZero #NCQG

Perspectives on climate finance will vary, but this is a great read to understand why constructive ambiguity has not worked out well. Useful insights from IMAL on the NCQG going forward.