BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 18. We are still far from halving global emissions this decade, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Stiell said at a press conference during COP29, Trend reports.
"It is good to see significant progress, especially in the area of carbon markets, where results have been achieved that were not possible at previous conferences. However, there is still much work to be done, and I certainly don't intend to relax. The challenges remain," Stiell highlighted.
"Progress at COP29 is of immense importance, and we must help countries accelerate their efforts in the final week of the conference. We also see strong signals from two G20 countries, the UK and Brazil, who have just presented their plans to strengthen climate action. They are clearly stating that they are doing this because it is absolutely in their economic interests," he mentioned.
The UN representative also emphasized the importance of the new biennial transparency reports, which are to be submitted this year under the Paris Agreement.
According to him, these reports play a crucial role in creating more effective climate policies for governments, while some of them have already been submitted and many more are on the way.
However, according to Stiell, much more effort is needed to make COP29 a success.
"Parties must move much faster towards finding compromises. This is particularly true for negotiations on the new climate finance mechanism. I have been very clear - climate finance is not charity. It is absolutely in the interest of every nation to protect their economies and people from the destructive impacts of climate change," he added.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 chairmanship has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
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