COP29: Climate Conference in Baku

COP29 was expected to deliver a global goal for climate finance that meets the challenges of the future. It failed to do so. Instead, it launched international carbon markets that create new loopholes for fossil fuel emitters.

For 29 years, youth groups have been calling for immediate solutions to climate change yet wealthy nations are locked in golden towers counting coins as the world warms up! 

When the Loss and Damage Fund was created last year, it was hailed as a triumph for climate justice. But it might turn out to be just the opposite, as it not only fails to deliver the support developing countries need to cope with loss and damage, but also provides an excuse not to include such support in new climate-finance goals.

UNFCCC negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement risk legitimising dangerous Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) schemes and undermining precautionary work being undertaken in other UN fora.

COP29 in Baku will decide the future of global climate finance. As developing nations demand $1 trillion in annual support, tensions rise over who should contribute and how funds are allocated. Will this summit deliver on the promise of climate justice and equity?

The new Loss and Damage Fund (FRLD) aims to support climate-vulnerable countries against escalating damages. Despite meeting setup milestones, key questions on funding scale, the operational model, and access policies remain unresolved. Can the FRLD truly deliver?

China produces more than 30 percent of global emissions. In this article, Adam Tooze explains why the People's Republic's next five-year plan will have a decisive impact on the global climate - and why this is reason for cautious optimism. 

This guide identifies twelve ‘implementation areas’ in forestry, agriculture, land tenure, and other land uses that should be addressed in nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

Developing nations face debt burdens that make climate action unaffordable. Comprehensive reform and targeted debt relief are essential to unlock the climate investments these countries urgently need.

Climate finance is high on the agenda of this year's international climate negotiations. Climate finance expert Liane Schalatek explains the key sticking points and what civil society calls for.

For the Azerbaijani regime, hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku represents a chance to obscure its poor climate record and relentless attacks on civil society.

Azerbaijan has strengthened its energy ties with the EU since 2022, ramping up gas deliveries and articulating ambitions to export renewable energy and green hydrogen to Europe in the future. However, the EU’s shrinking gas demand and Azerbaijan’s lack of a genuine decarbonization strategy cast uncertainty on the long-term prospects of this partnership.

The climate crisis affects marginalized communities disproportionately more than others even though they are the least responsible. Reason enough to give them space in the UNFCCC climate negotiations - but the current tendency seems the exact opposite.

This article examines the critical issue of public participation in environmental governance in Azerbaijan, focusing on the intricate relationship between environmental procedural rights and political repression, particularly in the context of the country hosting COP29.

As the host country of the COP29 climate conference, authoritarian Azerbaijan wants to improve its international reputation. How should democratic states and international civil society approach the next COP?