Posted on November, 18 2024
Baku, Azerbaijan (18 November): We have just entered the second week of COP. Ministers have arrived and they now have the difficult job of getting agreements on issues and texts that negotiators were not able to agree upon or streamline - most notably the new finance target for the post 2025 period - the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, known as the NCQG. WWF urges Parties to find common ground and unlock the finance needed to drive global climate action and to send strong political signals on ambition through delivering on the global stocktake recommendations, especially phasing out all fossil fuels.
Despite the early approval of two key carbon market standards and a few new NDCs and emission reduction targets announced by some countries, the technical work of the Mitigation Work Program stalled. The lack of a clear signal on the outcome of the NCQG is casting a cloud over many other areas that depend on finance to advance, including various mitigation and adaptation items. To resolve this issue, consultations are ongoing at various levels here. Political signals are also expected from the G20 Summit in Brazil this week.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead, said: “As Jerry McGuire says ‘show me the money’. The amount of climate finance, along with who pays and who receives it, are central to unlocking negotiations and securing a strong outcome at COP29.
“What happens in Rio will affect what happens in Baku, and strong political signals from the G20 leaders will go a long way to breaking the negotiations' logjam. As the world’s richest economies, they hold the purse strings to climate finance. With dedicated efforts over the coming days, I remain hopeful that we will see an outcome that moves us closer toward meeting the aims of the Paris Agreement.”
A new climate finance agreement, that meets the needs of developing countries, is crucial in enabling them to set ambitious mitigation targets and pathways to achieving them. It must also ensure they can adapt and respond to the consequences of rising temperatures. There is no time to delay, as countries must submit their new national climate plans by COP30 in November next year.
Fernanda Carvalho, WWF Global Climate and Energy Policy Lead, said: “The situation of the finance discussions reflects the scale of challenge we face in securing a meaningful outcome. It was frustrating to see the negotiating text only marginally narrowed down last week, rather than converging on clear, actionable options. A strong outcome on finance is a prerequisite to get the strong climate plans; the NDCs we want, in 2025. We need all Parties to push for a needs-based target of at least US$1 trillion annually, in public finance, with strong safeguards for transparency, regular reviews, and dedicated sub-goals for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage. Anything less potentially jeopardises the climate action necessary to stay on the 1.5°C pathway.”
ENDS
NOTES
WWF’s full analysis of the first week negotiations at COP29 is available here
Media updates: Sign up here for WWF’s daily COP29 newsletter ‘What’s Hot in Baku’ for updates on negotiations and news from WWF throughout the summit.
WWF’s COP29 Expectations paper is available here
WWF’s expectations for NCQG are available in our finance discussion paper here
CONTACT
WWF International climate comms team: cop29-comms@wwfint.org
Robin Harvey, WWF Media Relations Manager, WhatsApp: +44 7586 678 350
Izrael Muhamad, WWF Media Specialist, WhatsApp: +65 9455 7623
More information: Find out more about WWF's work at COP29 at panda.org/cop29