COP29 Dispatch - November 18th, 2024

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM NEGOTIATIONS?

• The COP29 Presidency?presided over a plenary?November 18, where he adopted several decisions and outlined the way forward for the second week of COP29, building on a?letter?he shared with Parties a few hours earlier.?? ?
• Ministerial consultations to resolve issues at the political level began November 18 on the following items:? ??

-- New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG):?Egypt and Australia are facilitating ministerial consultations on the structure, quantum, and contributors of the NCQG. The COP29 Presidency is also conducting consultations with all groups. There is some ongoing technical work on the NCQG in parallel (see below) on open issues not being considered in ministerial consultations. The Presidency has indicated that it will produce a new version of the NCQG text on Wednesday, based on ministerial consultation and technical work.?

-- Mitigation:?The COP29 Presidency emphasized the importance of reaching consensus on the mitigation at COP29. Ministerial pairs of Norway and South Africa are co-facilitating consultations at the Ministerial level on the Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP)? ?

-- Adaptation:?Ireland and Costa Rica are co-facilitating Ministerial-level consultations on the global goal on adaptation (GGA).? ?

-- Carbon Markets:?Singapore and New Zealand will co-facilitate consultations on Article 6, relating to carbon markets. There is some ongoing technical work on the carbon markets in parallel (see below) on open issues not being considered in ministerial consultations.? ?

• Brazil and the United Kingdom, as an incoming Presidency from a developing country (COP30) and a past Presidency from a developed country (COP26), are supporting and advising the COP29 President to deliver a balanced, high-ambition outcome in Baku.?
• In parallel to ministerial discussions, there is ongoing technical work on a limited number of issues specified by the COP President, including on the following:?

-- New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance:?Technical work continued November 18 on qualitative issues related to access and transparency and will continue November 19 on disenablers and other issues not being dealt with by ministers.??

-- The Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM), loss and damage (L&D), and the joint annual report of the WIM and the Santiago Network:?The Presidency requested that co-facilitators continue discussions on the WIM and the Santiago Network, which did not conclude during the first week. Parties agreed to separate consultations on the WIM review and the joint annual report of the WIM and the Santiago Network, in the hopes of facilitating a conclusion at COP29. Parties agreed to separate consultations.??

-- Transparency:?Parties are working towards the implementation of Article 13 under the Paris Agreement.?

-- Matters related to the global stocktake:?Parties met on the United Arab Emirates Dialogue on implementing the global stocktake outcomes November 18 to reengage on the basis of the?last informal note, with some Parties suggesting that there was enough of a basis for the co-facilitators to draft decision text that retains all options and views.?

-- Gender:?Parties made little progress toward agreement on the enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and its Gender Action Plan on November 18. Divergence remains on language, including that related to finance and diversity.?

-- Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP):?Parties continue technical negotiations on the JTWP. In the first week of the COP, Parties were unable resolve differences on key messages from the year’s work programme.?

-- Implementation and response measures?

-- National Adaptation Plans:?Parties are working to resolve areas of divergence on?matters relating to national adaptation plans.?

-- Technology:?Technical discussions on the Poznan strategic programme on technology transfer are continuing in the second week of the COP.?

-- NDC Features:?After a week of engaging without a textual basis, co-facilitators for the discussions on further guidance on features of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) published a?compilation of Parties’ views?November 18 as the basis for discussion November 19. ??

-- Article 6.2:?Negotiations continue on Article 6.2, which set the rules for the accounting and transfer of carbon credits or internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs).?

-- Article 6.4.?Ongoing discussions on aspects of Article 6.4—a centralized UN-supervised mechanism designed to support international carbon market transactions—face persistent diverging viewpoints on the matters of additionality tests (whether the activity has an impact) and transition of credits from the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM).?

• The COP29 President said that all work at the technical level must close by 17:00 on Wednesday. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell urged Parties to resolve technical issues as early in the week as possible.??
• The Presidency is not developing a process to produce an overarching cover decision for CO29, rather urging Parties to reach consensus on all issues within existing agenda items.??
• Parties met to discuss a?report on the annual global stocktake dialogue—a dialogue that aims “to facilitate the sharing of lessons learned on how the GST outcomes are informing the preparation of Parties’ next NDCs.” The first annual GST dialogue took place in June 2024. Parties seem likely to adopt a decision on the report in Baku; the question is how Parties determine the framing, if any, for such a decision.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUTSIDE THE NEGOTIATIONS?

• The?G20 Leader’s Summit?began November 18 and will continue November 19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Heads of State from 21 members, including the European Union and African Union, are expected to be in attendance.?? At the G20, U.S. President?Biden reportedly pledged US$4 billion?to the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank, exceeding the previous U.S. pledge record of US$3.5 billion in 2021. Developing countries are calling for rich countries to give at least $120 billion to IDA, which gives grants and low-interest loans to the world’s lowest-income countries.?? ?
• The?annual High-level Ministerial Round Table on pre-2030 Ambitioninvited Ministers and leaders to share their views on the priorities they wish to see reflected in the mitigation outcome from COP29. Some interventions expressed disappointment with the inability to make progress on the decision on the Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme, while others reiterated concerns regarding the contentious issue of scope.? ?
• The?annual High-Level Ministerial Round Table on Just Transition?invited Ministers and leaders to discuss just transition pathways to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and expectations for the UAE just transition work programme. Many Parties agreed on the importance of a people-centric just transition pathways but few acknowledged the lack of progress on the decision for the just transition work programme.? ?
• The?Adaptation Fund raised U.S. $61 million?at a pledging event, representing less than a quarter of its goal to raise U.S. $300 million by the end of COP29.? ?
• The COP29 Presidency, with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), among other organizations and multilateral development banks, launched the?Baku Initiative on Human Development for Climate Resilience, which addresses the cross-cutting aspects of human development, including education, health, social protection, skills and jobs, with a particular focus on the needs of children and youth in the context of climate change.? ?
• With 41 partners globally, the?Race to Resilience campaign?(RtR) released a progress report,?outlining progress on climate adaptation initiatives by non-Party stakeholders. The Report notes that in 2024 the RtR campaign led to the deployment of $40.88 billion for climate adaptation initiatives, enabling 2.26 billion people to be protected through pledged action plans.?

ANTICIPATED ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS?

• Impacts of growing wildfire emissions on the global carbon budget, the +1.5 limit, and the next NDCs | November 19 | 16:45-18:15 AZT | Side Event Room 6 | Featuring C2ES Vice President for International Strategies Kaveh Guilanpour’s remarks on the importance of NDCs |?See details?
• The Heads of State or Government who did not deliver a national statement on November 12 or 13 during the first part of the High-Level Segment (HLS), which was held during the?World Leaders Climate Action Summit (WLCAS), will provide statements at the?resumed High-Level Segment?(HLS) on November 19-20.?Representatives of groups will also provide statements.?

Contact Us

C2ES President Nat Keohane and Vice President for International Strategies Kaveh Guilanpour are available for media comment and interviews. To arrange an interview contact: Nora Zacharski, [email protected],+1-612-246-9868.