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Al Gore calls for reform of COP #climate process - COP: "I think the process should be reformed. I think it's absurd to have, for example, what we had last year with the CEO of one of the dirtiest oil companies on the planet serving as the president of the COP. It’s a direct conflict of interest. While the president of this COP was not the head of the oil industry, he is very much in sync with this country's reliance on fossil fuels. 90% of their balance of payments is coming from the sale of oil and gas." - Carbon capture and storage (#ccs): "They've been proven to be completely ridiculous and totally ineffective. Of course, the fossil fuel companies want to pretend that that's the solution – anything other than reducing the amount of fossil fuels that are burned or reducing their markets." - #climatefinance: "If you look at the financing for the clean energy revolution as far as it has gone thus far, 85% of the financing has been from the private sector. The real problem is that developing countries who have not been able to participate very much… have to pay such high interest rates that they are walled off from access to the private capital from investors around the world." https://lnkd.in/e-u_9q4q #climatecrisis

💡 As the dust settles on COP29 Azerbaijan, I’m pleased to share my new open access paper, where I set out ideas to help boost progress in the #UNFCCC negotiations.  🌍 They are quite radical - perhaps unrealistic - but with global emissions still rising after 30 years, we need to think radical: 👉 Push through a voting rule, for a *limited set* of decisions (eg cover decisions, never finance), requiring a super-majority (eg 7/8).  👉 Introduce optional technical annexes on sectoral issues (eg fossil fuels, coal, forests, renewables) that vanguard countries could sign up to *within the UNFCCC process* (not climate clubs on the margins). Other parties could join when ready, hopefully following this lead.  👉 Both are politically challenging, but not impossible. https://lnkd.in/eS6ERseh. 

Many people long involved in global climate negotiations see the annual #UnitedNations #COP climate talks as fundamentally flawed. That includes me. On Sunday, the 29th round of talks finished in #Baku, #Azerbaijan. It was likely my 25th COP. I have attended these talks in many different roles, but largely as a climate negotiator for the #Australian government. These days I attend in my academic capacity. COP29 did not achieve a breakthrough. It led to a modest increase in #climatefinance for developing nations and agreement on #carbonmarket rules. But many issues were kicked down the road. COP talks are slow. And the once-a-year meetings are seen as “win or lose” moments, which complicates the dynamics. Oil states and lobbyists work to avoid mention of quitting #fossilfuels. Host nations need a win, leading to “commitments” which may not lead to substantive change. Ahead of this year’s talks, major climate figures called once more for reform to the COP process. But however flawed, COP meetings are the only way to get the world’s nations in the same room to hash out what to do about #climatechange.  In recent years, global leaders have been distracted by #COVID, the #Ukraine-#Russia war and now the #MiddleEast. But climate change is only worsening. It won’t be long before real world events pull our attention back to the single largest threat we face. Why do these talks matter? Since 1995, the COP talks have acted as the main driver of global action on climate change. These talks will continue to matter until the #transition to #cleanenergy is complete and the burning of fossil fuels is no longer routine. Climate change has a one-word solution: investment. Every day, companies and governments invest money. They either invest it in status quo technologies which make carbon #pollution worse, or they invest in cleaner alternatives. What the COP talks do is help change the direction of investment. You can see this working very clearly in how much is now being invested in #greenenergy, electricity grid upgrades and energy efficiency – double that for new fossil fuels. (Unfortunately, if you include fossil fuel subsidies, the picture is very different.) Last year, nations finally included text about the need to transition away from fossil fuels. It was hard-won. But this year, diplomats from #SaudiArabia and #petrostate allies were able to block any mention of this. The text on fossil fuels was not binding. But it was influential in boardrooms where decisions on investment are made. Process over progress? The way the COP talks are set up are not ideal. A new country is chosen every year to take on the presidency role and host the summit. The talks run for a fortnight and the agenda is vast. This year, the hosts, Azerbaijan, struggled to keep control of the agenda. As a result, issues such as the Global Stocktake – which included the calls to quit fossil fuels – were kicked down the road to #COP30 in #Brazil in a year’s time. 

DO YOU FEEL THE SAME-WAY ABOUT THE COP??? 🌍 🌎 🌏 😎 ‘Cop is performative – it’s for doing oil deals, not solving the climate crisis’ We are less than halfway through Cop29, the world’s foremost climate conference, but Prof Johan Rockström is not hopeful for a positive outcome. “No longer fit for purpose” is how he and a number of other leading experts have described the talks, being held this year in Azerbaijan. Rockström and a number of co-signatories including Ban-Ki Moon, former UN Secretary General, Christiana Figueres, the ex-UN climate chief and Mary Robinson, Ireland’s former president, have written to the UN demanding that the current behemoth – which has for the past two editions been held in petrostates – be fundamentally overhauled. Along with decades of glacial progress, Rockström, a leading climate scientist and director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, has been concerned by comments from this year’s hosts, which appear to make a mockery of Cop’s purpose. This week, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev told gathered world leaders that natural gas was a “gift from God”, hitting out at critics of his country’s oil and gas industries. (Moments later Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, took to the stage to insist that promoting the use of fossil fuels was “absurd”.) And in the days before the summit began, Elnur Soltanov, Azerbaijan’s deputy energy minister and the conference’s chief executive, was caught on film agreeing to use the 197 country-wide negotiations to facilitate oil deals. Rockström, 58, is definitive in his criticism of the Azerbaijani officials. Aliyev’s words, he says, amounted to “a completely contradictory and obstructive statement … [one] unacceptable from a Cop presidency.” That stance, along with the energy minister’s dealmaking plans, “of course leads to the suspicion that the Cop meetings are [being] misused as almost legitimising inaction, like we go to Cop meetings giving the impression we’re acting to solve the climate crisis, but in reality, we spend time doing oil deals”. It is hardly the intended goal of the summit, which began in Berlin in 1995. This year, the conference is being held in a new 13-storey tower in Baku’s Central Boulevard, in a neighbourhood formerly known as Black City. The Azerbaijani capital is famed as being ‘the world’s first oil town’, where the industry was born in the 1840s. Oil and gas now account for half of the country’s exports, further raising questions as to why it is leading this year’s climate talks. The same issues arose last year at Cop28, helmed by the United Arab Emirates. One of the world’s top 10 oil-producing nations, in the weeks leading up to the summit, leaked briefing documents revealed that the hosts planned to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations. The man chosen to preside over the conference, meanwhile, was also the chief executive of the national oil company. Given coal, oil and gas are the biggest contributors...

November 14, 2024 - By Deutsche Welle, "In an open letter to the UN, a group of scientists and climate experts said COP needs to "shift away from negotiations to the delivery of concrete action." It also called for an end of climate meet-ups in petrostates. ---- As COP29 Azerbaijan climate talks progress, a group of prominent global leaders and scientists on Friday called for significant reform and overhaul in the UN Conference of Parties (COP) process. In an open letter (https://lnkd.in/e8JK-Uxc) to United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell, UN member states and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the group called for major changes including "eligibility criteria [for host nations] to exclude countries who do not support the phase out/transition away from fossil energy." The choice of Azerbaijan as the host of the current COP29, has faced criticism given the country's heavy reliance on #oilandgas exports, which comprises half of its economy. Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan's President, opened the #COP29 #climatesummit with a speech that called oil and gas a "gift from God," praising the use of natural resources. The COP28 conference was held in the United Arab Emirates and the meeting's leader kept his job as the head of the country's national oil company. In the letter to the UN, the experts argued that the current COP framework is insufficient to meet the urgent needs of a warming planet. Call for concrete action The letter's signatories include former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and other experts representing organizations in the climate sector. There were seven key reforms for COP highlighted in the open letter, which said it was time for COP to "shift away from negotiations to the delivery of concrete action." The reforms included robust tracking of climate financing, integration of the latest scientific evidence, as well as "decisive action on equality, justice and poverty alleviation." Another key point emphasized the need for governments to be held accountable, ensuring that their national action plans are aligned with the latest scientific evidence. The group also highlighted the high number of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP summits. At least 1,773 coal, oil and gas lobbyists have been granted access to COP29, according to data (https://lnkd.in/eNBS8JkC) released Friday by the Kick Big Polluters Out activist coalition. The group added that fossil fuel lobbyists received more passes to COP29 than all the delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined. Former UN #climate chief Christiana Figueres said at the last COP fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbered representatives of scientific institutions, Indigenous communities and vulnerable nations. "We cannot hope to achieve a just transition without significant reforms to the COP process that ensure fair representation of those most affected.." #climateactionnow Continue reading

Azerbaijan’s COP29 presidency claimed an early win at the start of the climate summit when countries waved through long-awaited – and controversial – rules laying the foundations for a new UN carbon market, without any debate. But the approval of the documents setting out key guidelines – or “standards” – for the development of carbon credit projects and carbon removal activities provoked strong opposing reactions. The Azerbaijan COP presidency put a number to the potential market, claiming that “co-operation across borders” under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement using carbon credits could reduce the cost of carrying out national climate plans by $250 billion every year. 

With COP29 starting next week in Baku, Azerbaijan, we have been looking ahead at some of the key themes to look out for at the conference: 💰 Climate Finance: This will play a large part in COP29 and delegates are expected to agree a new target for climate finance, known as the "new collective quantified finance goal". This will likely be subject to lengthy negotiation. 💹 Carbon Markets: One of the trickiest aspects of the Paris Agreement has been agreeing on global rules for carbon markets. Delegates failed to reach agreement last year at COP28 and they will have another go in Baku. 🏭 Nationally Determined Contributions: Parties to the Paris Agreement are required to submit updated NDCs, their individual plans to reduce domestic emissions and adapt to tackle climate change. These plans are updated every five years and the previous set were criticised at COP28 in the UAE last year for falling short of the action required to tackle climate change. It is expected than many countries will reveal their updated NDCs at COP29. ☀ Renewable Energy: As always, action to grow renewable energy across the World will be a key part of the COP. This year, the COP29 presidency has published several declarations and pledges, which will hopefully be endorsed at COP29 including on growing energy storage and enhancing grid capacity and unlocking the potential for a global clean hydrogen market. The article below which I have written alongside my environmental colleagues at BCLP Madeleine Lofchy and Rhea Ava Patel explores the above themes AND MORE! Watch this space for further updates and alerts from COP29..... #COP29 #climatechange #sustainability

UAE urges countries to honour fossil fuels vow amid Cop29 impasse Petrostate’s rebuke comes as Saudi Arabia and allies try to derail transition promise made at climate talks last year The world must stand behind a historic resolution made last year to “transition away from fossil fuels”, the United Arab Emirates has said, in a powerful intervention into a damaging row over climate action. The petrostate’s stance will be seen as as a sharp rebuke to its neighbour and close ally Saudi Arabia, which had been trying to unpick the global commitment at UN climate talks in Azerbaijan this week. Last year, the UAE hosted a vital summit on the climate, Cop28, of which the commitment to transition away from fossil fuels was a key outcome. It marked the first time in 30 years of near-annual climate meetings that the issue had been directly addressed. The requirement was contained in a document called the UAE Consensus. A UAE spokesperson said: “The UAE Consensus is the culmination of an intense set of negotiations that proved the value of multilateralism. “As a Cop decision, it is by definition unanimous. All parties must honour what they agreed. They must now focus on implementation by providing the means to take it forward with a robust NCQG [new collective quantified goal on climate finance]. We urge all parties to focus on this outcome.” At this year’s talks, Cop29, Saudi Arabia and its allies have been attempting to roll back this commitment. They tried to sideline the discussion of the phaseout of fossil fuels into a separate track of the talks, under finance, and refused to allow the commitment to be included in crucial texts. Experts on the talks told the Guardian privately that the UAE intervention against its close ally and “brother nation” Saudi Arabia was highly significant. After Cop28, UAE instituted a “troika” system for UN Cops, whereby the three countries that were the current, immediate past and next hosts agreed to cooperate to try to ensure the talks run smoothly. Saudi Arabia has been highly obstructive at these talks, according to insiders in the negotiating rooms. A spokesperson for the country told a plenary session of the Cop – which stands for “conference of the parties” under the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – that Saudi Arabia would “not accept any text that targets any specific sectors, including fossil fuels”. https://lnkd.in/gWhmNAN6 https://lnkd.in/gWhmNAN6

Second day at COP29 became more hectic with several developments Key stories by me on Day-2 1. COP29 adopts establishment of global carbon market under Paris Agreement's Article 6: https://lnkd.in/gYFv4kyY 2. COP29 Climate Accountability Push: Experts demand action, transparency, and finance from developed countries: https://lnkd.in/gupEBwdQ 3. Most G20 countries, including US, need to significantly step up climate action, says Global South's climate index: https://lnkd.in/gVXXm3AR 4. India's expectations from COP29: focus on equity, finance, and adaptation https://lnkd.in/g6j4Ejk4 5. Developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed: UN Secretary-General https://lnkd.in/gSmVbSRg 6. Developed countries have to be made accountable for unmet promises, says CEEW CEO Arunabha Ghosh at COP29: A short video interview https://lnkd.in/gr4mnBi3

COP is “no longer fit for purpose” as the world’s focal response to climate change amid controversy over the influence of fossil fuel interests over the negotiations, a group of scientists and policy leaders has said. An open letter to United Nations member states co-signed by Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris climate treaty, said the COP climate talks are in need of an "urgent" overhaul, including curbs on fossil fuel lobbying and tighter screening of host countries. It highlighted the limitations of the UN-led framework to bring about change at the speed required to limit planetary warming to safe levels. The letter follows comments from the president of this year’s host country, Azerbaijan, that oil and gas are a “gift of God”, and news that an official from Azerbaijan’s COP presidency had been using the event to broker fossil fuel business deals. In a list of suggestions for how to improve COP, it said meetings should be more frequent, smaller and “solution-driven” and the process must include mechanisms to hold countries to account for their climate commitments. It also called for standardised definitions of what qualifies as climate finance, including reporting and tracking mechanisms.  Signatories of the letter include Johan Rockström, director of the PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Action Research, Ban Ki-moon, former United Nations secretary-general, and Sandrine Dixson-Declève, executive chair of Earth4All and global ambassador of the The Club of Rome. Dixson-Declève said: “We need a COP process that offers delivery, not delay.” This year’s talks have also been criticised for approving rules on carbon credits before the conference had even started, an approach critics say was rushed and departed from due process. Climate scientist Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said he believes that the COP process has been too slow to deliver action.  “Looking back over the past years, when countries were encouraged to increase ambition, there has been no progress. Since the first COP in 1995, carbon dioxide concentration has gone up by a staggering 60 per cent, putting the lives and livelihoods of the people COP was supposed to protect at increasing risk.” Story here on Eco-Business: https://lnkd.in/gtUwdP_f #COP #climatechange