Welcome to weekly intel briefings on climate-related news. Find Insights below on what mattered this week, event tracker, media trends, people and organisations to watch as well as the latest updates on COP29 Azerbaijan.
??What mattered this week
(From ~1.6M sources, 10.2K identified stories, summarized into 4 key story clusters)
- COP29 financing target likely to fall short of developing countries' needs, which the UN had estimated will reach US$1 trillion every year till 2030. After agreeing to a landmark deal to transition away from fossil fuels in Dubai on 2023, countries have so far also failed to agree on language that would take that work forward in Baku.
- Climate scientists have concluded that the internationally agreed goal to keep the world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is now “deader than a doornail,” with 2024 almost certain to be the first individual year above this threshold.?
- South Australia is formally bidding to host the COP31 climate change conference in 2026, alongside Pacific nations. The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, made a visit to Turkey in an attempt to reach a deal for Australia, in hopes that Turkey will exit the race to host the summit.
- A new analysis has shown that hundreds of lobbyists with ties to the agricultural industry are attending this year's COP. This analysis follows the revelation last week from the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition that 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to the talks.?
???Upcoming events of interest
- November 25 - December 1: Plastic Pollution INC-5 in Busan, Republic of Korea. This is the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.?
- December 2: Budapest Climate Summit in Budapest, Hungary. The event focuses on the green transition of the CEE region’s economy and is organised under the main patronage of János áder, former President of Hungary, Chairman of the Blue Planet Foundation.
- December 10-11: UNEP FI Global Roundtable 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland and online. The flagship event will focus on accelerating practical approaches to setting and implementing targets in areas including net zero, nature, and pollution.
??COP29 Thematic Heatmap
??Emerging themes shaping the COP29 discussion
- Food, Agriculture and Water: Funding for a climate-friendly farming effort,
Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate)
, led by the US and United Arab Emirates has reached $29.2 billion. Planned as a five-year initiative, the AIM for Climate program will end in 2025.
- Gender Equality:
BBC
reported that the Vatican had aligned with Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and Egypt to obstruct a deal which would have provided more support, including financial help, for women at the forefront of climate change.?
- Nature and Biodiversity: A global group of 68 NGOs, business coalitions, companies, Indigenous Peoples organisations and influential individuals issued the “COP29 Nature Statement”, calling for UNFCCC Parties to properly recognise and finance nature’s role in addressing the climate crisis.
????Trending stakeholders in spotlight
-
Clare Shakya
- The Nature Conservancy’s Global Managing Director for Climate, said in a statement: “COPs are often slow-moving processes, but they can also be inflection-points – and there’s still time for Baku to achieve a breakthrough.”
-
Anacláudia Rossbach
- The Executive Director of UN-Habitat, has warned that rapid and unplanned urban development pose threats to biodiversity, the environment, and food security.
- Balarabe Abbas Lawal - Nigeria’s environment minister, said: “China and India cannot be classified in the same category as Nigeria and other African countries. I think they are developing but they are in a faster phase than states like Nigeria."
? What's Next?
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