CCAC at COP29: Daily Updates - 16 November 2024

COP29: Week 1 Wraps Up

Negotiators continue to work towards a draft agreement that sets a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQC), wrapping up a busy first week of negotiations in Baku. The new goal would replace the $100 billion a year promised by developed countries for climate finance, a target that expires in 2025. On Saturday, Reuters reported that what started earlier in the week as an initial 33 page long draft agreement has now been pared down to 25 pages, indicating only minor progress on the path to a deal. Many negotiators and observers have indicated that there is not yet a consensus on the thorniest issues relating to climate finance: how big the targets should be, and which countries should pay.

Negotiatiors will resume their formal discussions on the multiple options proposed in the draft text on Monday morning, following a planned “rest day” on Sunday.

Elsewhere on Saturday, UN Climate Change Chief Simon Stiell made a plea to the world’s largest economies meeting at next week’s G20 Leaders Summit in Brazil, calling on governments to “meet the moment and deliver the policies for an accelerated shift from fossil fuels to a clean energy future, to unlock the essential private sector investment needed”.

Super Pollutants at COP29: Week 1 Highlights

Super pollutants were front and center throughout the first week of COP, with the CCAC participating and co-hosting multiple events across COP29.

On Tuesday, the CCAC Co-Chair the United States, China, and the COP29 Presidency co-hosted the “COP29 Summit on Methane and Non-CO2Greenhouse Gases”. This is the second such gathering held at a COP, following the inaugural summit at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As part of the Summit, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, announced a 5-million-pound contribution towards the CCAC’s Fossil Fuel Regulatory Programme (FFRP). Read more about the FFRP here.

Also on Tuesday, the CCAC formally launched the Global N2O Assessment, and organized a press conference on Wednesday to highlight the key findings of the report, featuring Rick Duke, CCAC Co-Chair and US Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, David Kanter, Associate Professor at NYU and Co-Chair of the Assessment, and Kaveh Zahedi, Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment at the Food and Agriculture Organization. Watch the press conference here.

On Friday, the CCAC, as Secretariat for the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), the CCAC co-hosted the Global Methane Pledge Ministerial, alongside the United States and the European Commission. The Ministerial provides a moment to showcase methane momentum and achievements of GMP participants, and as part of the Ministerial, The Global Methane Pledge Champions called on countries to continue to accelerate efforts to reduce methane emissions as rapidly as possible in this critical decade. Read the letter here. Additionally, a“Ministerial factsheet”, highlighting progress and announcements made by GMP participants, was published following the meeting. Read more here.   

Throughout the week, the CCAC Secretariat participated in panels and gave keynote remarks in multiple side events across the COP29 venue, including:

• An event at the Global Methane Hub Pavilion on the FFRP
• An event at the United States Pavilion on nitrous oxide
• An event at the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion and NDC Partnership Pavilion on super pollutant action in the Pacific region
• An official COP29 side event on financing waste methane
• An event at the Japan Pavilion on Cooling and NDCs
• An event on methane and the Paris agreement at the Senegal Pavilion
• An official COP29 side event on clean air and health
• An official COP29 side event on international initiatives to tackle climate
• An event at the Iraq Pavilion on catalyzing methane action, both globally and in the MENA region

Finally, across the week, Martina Otto, Head of the CCAC Secretariat, took part in multiple “We Don’t Have Time” broadcasts focused on methane and other super pollutants. Catch up on the broadcasts here.

We Don't Have Time X CCAC: #BuyMoreTime – Landfills & Waste?

Landfills emit large amounts of methane when organic waste such as food scraps, wood, cardboard paper and garden waste decompose in the absence of oxygen.

Join us for expert discussion on how to drastically reduce methane emissions from landfills and waste sites around the world.

Speakers:

• Mariel Vilella, Global Climate Program Director, GAIA
• Berliana Yusuf, Senior Analyst, Climate Policy Initiative
• Charlotte Morton OBE, CEO, World Biogas Association
• Ingmar Rentzhog, CEO & Founder, We Don't Have Time

In case you missed it

On its first day, COP29 took steps towards the establishment of a carbon market under Paris Agreement Article 6, offering two distinct pathways for countries and companies to trade carbon offsets. The first option, Article 6.2, allows two countries to establish a bilateral carbon trading agreement under their own terms. The second, Article 6.4, seeks to develop a centralized, UN-managed system to enable both countries and companies to offset and trade carbon emissions. Speaking to Article 6, UN Climate Chief Simon Steill stressed the importance of developing countries benefiting from a new carbon market.