Why the Youth is Angry at COP29’s Results Published: 12 December 2024 Commentary 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! By Hajar Al-Beltaji and Alab Ayroso
COP29 Exacerbates Climate Injustice Published: 29 November 2024 Analysis 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. By Linda Schneider
COP29: Is the Loss and Damage Fund Becoming an Empty Promise? Published: 22 November 2024 Commentary 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. By Liane Schalatek
Azerbaijan Greenwashes Authoritarianism at COP29 Published: 20 November 2024 Commentary 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. By Arzu Geybulla
CBD COP16: Wins and losses for biodiversity and peoples, unfinished business on implementation Published: 19 November 2024 Commentary The sixteenth UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, faced significant challenges and ran overtime due to disagreements between developing and developed countries. A resumed meeting will be required to address these unfinished issues. By Mirna Inés Fernández
Marginalization of the marginalized Published: 18 November 2024 Commentary 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. By Liliane Pollmann, Srijani Datta and Global Young Greens (GYG)
After the COP16 Biodiversity Conference in Colombia: What remains and what comes next Published: 14 November 2024 Commentary The UN Conference on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, ended in early November with important resolutions, but no agreement on the key issue of financing biodiversity conservation. By Evelyn Hartig
UN climate talks could undermine precaution on geoengineering called for by the biodiversity convention Published: 7 November 2024 Analysis 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. By Linda Schneider and Silvia Ribeiro
A Mirror of Political Control: The Struggle for Environmental Participation in Azerbaijan Published: 6 November 2024 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. By Anonymous Author
The EU and Azerbaijan as Energy Partners: Short-Term Benefits, Uncertain Future Published: 5 November 2024 Analysis 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. By Yana Zabanova
Developing countries need ways to achieve fair and sustainable climate financing Published: 1 November 2024 Commentary 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. By Sarah Ribbert
Land Use in NDCs: A Guide to High Ambition Published: 29 October 2024 Guide This guide identifies twelve ‘implementation areas’ in forestry, agriculture, land tenure, and other land uses that should be addressed in nationally determined contributions (NDCs). By Peter Riggs
The future of climate justice will be decided in Baku Published: 15 October 2024 Analysis 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? By Liane Schalatek
New goals, old problems: the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Azerbaijan Published: 15 October 2024 Overview Azerbaijan is the third authoritarian and repressive petro state in a row to host the COP presidency. The most important issues on the COP29 agenda: the new global goal on climate finance (NCQG) and the negotiations on carbon markets - and for both is true: the climate crisis is a matter of global justice. By Linda Schneider
Damage caused by climate change: Can the new climate fund deliver what it promises? Published: 14 October 2024 Analysis 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? By Liane Schalatek
Civil Society Demands Attention to Human Rights and Climate Justice Ahead of COP29 in Azerbaijan Published: 11 September 2024 Statement We, the undersigned civil society organizations, movements, groups and individuals, highlight the urgent need to address serious human rights concerns in Azerbaijan in the lead-up to its hosting this year’s United Nations Climate Conference (COP29).
COP29: Azerbaijan’s Quest for International Legitimacy and Funding Published: 11 March 2024 Analysis 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? By Dr. Sonja Katharina Schiffers
Solar geoengineering at COP 28 Published: 26 February 2024 Analysis In the upcoming UNEA6 meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, to be held between February 26 and March 1st, Switzerland has proposed a resolution to advance global talks on controversial solar radiation manipulation techniques. By Carol Bardi
COP 28: No outcome is better than Article 6 Published: 9 January 2024 Analysis At the climate conference in Dubai, the implementation details of the controversial Article 6.8 work programme was agreed. An assessment from an Indigenous perspective. By Tamra Gilbertson and Tom BK Goldtooth
The global south’s debt crisis is thwarting climate ambition Published: 13 December 2023 Analysis Many climate-vulnerable countries cannot invest in low-carbon development unless they are offered debt relief. Policymakers must agree to reform the debt architecture and provide more concessional finance. By Maria Fernanda Espinosa and Rishikesh Ram Bhandary