COP29 took a step forward to elevate the voices of indigenous peoples and local communities in climate action, adopting the Baku Workplan and renewing the mandate of the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. (Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) has agreed to triple public finance to help developing countries protect their people and economies against climate disasters and to assist them in benefiting from the energy boom.
COP29, which focused on climate finance and brought together nearly 200 countries in Baku, Azerbaijan, reached a breakthrough agreement to triple public finance to developing countries, from the previous goal of $100 billion annually, about R1.8 trillion, to $300 billion annually by 2035.
Over 55 000 people including world leaders, civil society, business, indigenous peoples, youth and philanthropic and international organisations attended COP29, which closed in the city on Sunday.
The finance agreement aims to secure efforts of all actors to work together to scale up finance to developing countries, from public and private sources, to $1.3 trillion per year by 2035.
Known formally as the New Collective Quantified on Climate Finance (NCQG), it was agreed upon after two weeks of intensive negotiations and several years of preparatory work, in a process that requires all nations to unanimously agree on every word of the agreement.
“This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UN Climate Change.
“But like any insurance policy, it only works if premiums are paid in full and on time. Promises must be kept, to protect billions of lives. It will keep the clean energy boom growing, helping all countries to share in its huge benefits: more jobs, stronger growth, cheaper and cleaner energy for all,” Stiell said.
The International Energy Agency expects global clean energy investment to exceed $ 2 trillion for the first time in 2024.
The new finance goal at COP29 builds on strides forward on global climate action at COP27, which agreed to an historic Loss and Damage Fund, and COP28, which delivered a global agreement to transition away from all fossil fuels in energy systems swiftly and fairly, triple renewable energy and boost climate resilience.
However, leaders of least-developed countries (LDCs) such as The Gambia’s Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources Minister Rohey John are appalled saying the sum decided upon is far too small.
“This COP29 has shown how developed countries want to shirk their climate finance responsibilities to vulnerable countries. It is sad that after months of negotiations, they have waited [until] the last official day of COP to table a dismal figure, leaving no sufficient time for deliberations amongst parties, and to make it worse, the figure is shockingly too low,” John said.
“Developed countries are not only delaying climate justice, but they are also blocking any potential economic progress for continents like Africa because they simply refuse to pay up. We were never on a begging mission; this was a responsibility to honour commitments for putting us in the dire climate change position we are in right now,” he added.
Sierra Leone Environment and Climate Change Minister Jiwoh Abdulai said the full funding was needed immediately.
“Communities and countries at the centre of climate vulnerability have been asking the developed world — the countries most responsible for the crisis — to alleviate their suffering. The maths is clear — $1.3 trillion a year is needed in grants and grants equivalent now,” Abdulai said.
“This COP, against the wishes of the vulnerable countries, has unfortunately adopted a $300bn target (to be met in 2035), less than a quarter of what science shows is needed and barely enough to forestall a climate catastrophe. We are extremely disappointed in the outcome, which undermines any goal of having ambitious NDCs and signals a lack of goodwill by developed countries,” he said.
Abdulai added that LDCs remained committed to the COP process “but the developed world needs to show good faith, leadership and commitment to this process. They have to pay their climate debt which is in the trillions”.
COP29 also reached an agreement on carbon markets — which several previous COPs had not been able to achieve. These agreements will help countries deliver their climate plans more quickly and make faster progress in halving global emissions this decade, as required by science.
Important agreements were also reached on transparent climate reporting and adaptation.
However, Stiell said the agreement did not meet all parties’ expectations, and more work is needed next year on crucial issues.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work to do,” he said.
“The many other issues we need to progress may not be headlines but they are lifelines for billions of people. So this is no time for victory laps, we need to set our sights and redouble our efforts on the road to Belem.”
The finance agreement at COP29 comes as stronger national climate plans (nationally determined contributions, or NDCs) become due from all countries next year.
These new climate plans must cover all greenhouse gases and all sectors, to keep the 1.5°C warming limit within reach. COP29 saw two G20 countries — the United Kingdom and Brazil — signal clearly that they plan to ramp up climate action in their NDC 3.0 because they are in the interests of their economies and people.
“The UN Paris Agreement is humanity’s life raft; there is nothing else. So here in Baku and all of the countries represented in this room, we’re taking that journey forward together.”
Key achievements of COP29 include:
• Article 6 of the Paris Agreement
After nearly a decade of work, countries have agreed on the final building blocks that set out how carbon markets will operate under the Paris Agreement, making country-to-country trading and a carbon crediting mechanism fully operational.
On country-to-country trading, the decision out of COP29 provides clarity on how countries will authorise the trade of carbon credits and how registries tracking this will operate. There is now reassurance that environmental integrity will be ensured upfront through technical reviews in a transparent process.
On day one of COP29, countries agreed on standards for a centralised carbon market. This is good news for developing countries, which will benefit from new flows of finance, and for LDCs, which will gain capacity-building support to get a foothold in the market.
This mechanism, known as the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, is underpinned by mandatory checks on projects against strong environmental and human rights protections, including safeguards that ensure a project can’t go ahead without explicit, informed agreement from indigenous peoples. It also allows anyone affected by a project to appeal a decision or file a complaint.
The supervisory body setting up the new carbon crediting mechanism has been handed a 2025 to-do list by parties and will be accountable to them.
• Transparency
Transparent climate reporting made strides in Baku, building a stronger evidence base to strengthen climate policies over time, and helping to identify financing needs and opportunities.
Thirteen parties have submitted their first Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR) which are due from all parties by the end of the year. Andorra, Azerbaijan, the European Union, Germany, Guyana, Japan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Netherlands, Panama, Singapore, Spain, and Türkiye have led the way on transparent climate reporting, and set an example for others to follow.
The critical role of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) was recognized through a £3 million pledge by the UK International Forest Unit to support UN Climate Change’s work over four years.
This funding will bolster REDD+ activities in many countries, enabling the secretariat to create dedicated spaces for experts to engage in technical dialogue. These efforts are in line with the global stocktake objective to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030.
• Adaptation
COP29 was an important moment for adaptation, with the delivery of several key outcomes.
The COP decision on matters relating to the LDCs contains a provision for the establishment of a support programme for the implementation of National Adaptation Plans (Naps) for the LDCs. Parties extensively discussed the second five-year assessment of progress to formulate and implement Naps, and will continue that in June 2025.
COP29 took a step forward to elevate the voices of indigenous peoples and local communities in climate action, adopting the Baku Workplan and renewing the mandate of the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP).
• Gender and climate change
Countries extended the enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and Climate Change for 10 years, reaffirming the importance of gender equality and advancing gender mainstreaming throughout the convention.
They also agreed to develop a new gender action plan for adoption at COP30, which will set the direction for implementation.
• Civil society participation, children and youth
United Nations Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen, speaking at the closing ceremony, said: “Climate crunch time is here. COP29 has delivered a hard-fought deal. This is at a time when science tells us that without action, climate impacts will only intensify further.”
Andersen said the UN Environmental Programme would continue to work with all parties and stakeholders to ensure climate finance is “mobilised in the most effective way, with maximum impact on the ground for communities that need it the most”.
“The NDC plans can unleash a wave of resilient economic growth, new jobs and address cost of living challenges. The G20 must lead, and lead quickly. The road to Belém must be one of concerted action and living up to commitments,” Andersen said.