Reporter’s notebook: Behind the scenes at COP29

Editor’s note: This article will be updated regularly throughout COP29 with insights from Jesse Chase-Lubitz and Ayenat Mersie. <div id="nov11"><h2> Monday, Nov. 11 </h2></div> By Jesse Chase-Lubitz BAKU, Azerbaijan — The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, officially began Monday under a thick gray sky and the smell of petrol ever present in the air thanks to an oil refinery just eight minutes away by car. I landed in Baku on Sunday after a whirlwind trip from London involving a very crowded Istanbul airport that thwarted my connecting flight. But I made it, and I’ll be here all week. Negotiators were in talks late into the night on the all-important Article 6 — which allows countries to cooperate with each other on their nationally determined goals with mechanisms like carbon markets and emissions trading. The hosts got an early win and diplomats finally approved some rules to govern carbon credit trading, but it’s not all good news. At least 16 organizations have contributed to a shared Google doc to criticize the decision, saying it was rushed and lacks the checks needed to ensure a trusted market. International environmental organization 350.org said it was "risky" for carbon markets and “sidestepped due process.” “If implemented correctly and truly accountable, carbon markets can be one of many tools for climate action,” said David Nicholson, Mercy Corps’ chief climate officer. “Today’s decision on carbon markets, through Article 6.4, falls short of these essential principles. We are concerned that the agreement lacks adequate protections to human rights and undermines the goals of the Paris Agreement, rather than supporting them.” Meanwhile, Brazil came out ahead of the game Sunday by announcing a commitment to reduce emissions by between 59% and 67%. The country is set to host next year’s COP30. Experts have criticized the goal — saying that Brazil would have to cut its emissions by 92% by 2035 in order to sufficiently contribute to the fight against climate change. The pace at the COP29 venue in Baku was slow Monday morning but picked up by midday, with delegates, observers, and press from all over the world figuring out their way around Baku’s “Olympic” Stadium. (The name prompted a Google search of whether Baku ever hosted the Olympics — it did not, and there are no plans for it to host, either.) In a press briefing Monday morning, U.S. White House Chief of Staff John Podesta encouraged faith in the country’s dedication to addressing climate despite the outcome of the election last week. During the campaign, a spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trump said he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. “While the United States federal government under Donald Trump may put climate action on the back burner, work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States with commitment and passion and belief,” Podesta said. He continued with a list of climate disasters that happened over the last year. “None of this is a hoax,” he added, a nod to Trump’s description of climate change. Podesta said that the success of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, has created an economic feedback loop that will outlast his presidency. “The economics of the clean energy transition has simply taken over,” he said. “We only have one administration at a time and until late January, President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris will still be in the White House.” The U.S.’s commitment to the new collective quantified goal, or NCQG — a key element of the Paris Agreement designed to set a new climate finance target for wealthier nations to support their lower-income counterparts — is highly awaited. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Podesta didn’t say anything about the amounts. He did, however, highlight the need for accessibility, putting the responsibility on international financial institutions to “simplify their processes” for countries to access the money. While COP29 delegates were negotiating behind closed doors, I interviewed Pamela Coke-Hamilton, the executive director of the International Trade Centre. Coke-Hamilton is here to put forward the first-ever climate declaration for small-to-medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. It’s a key target group for lower-income countries, which are not typically host to big multinational companies. Coke-Hamilton wants to see SMEs in country’s individual nationally determined goals, or NDCs, and she wants the NCQG to dedicate funding to helping them transition from a fossil fuel-heavy supply chain. “SMEs are responsible for 40%-60% of the greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of all businesses across the world,” she said. “If we don’t address the reality of their existence and the role in the process of decarbonization and climate change, then we’re playing an unwise game.” But the NCQG amount is likely to be the primary point of discussions, rather than how the money is going to be disseminated. ITC will develop guidelines that countries can apply to their own needs, with the goal of getting concessional loans and investments from banks into these SMEs to help them join the green transition. ITC has had interest from Ghana, Jamaica, and Rwanda so far, as well as from the Alliance for Action. It is hoping for support from multilateral development banks. Pavilions that caught my eye • Kyrgyzstan went above and beyond this year, with a fully outfitted yurt that you can enter, traditional dress, and an informational video on the state of melting mountains, just in case you forgot where you were. • For a fresh bite, head to Uzbekistan, which has apples so fresh you can smell them all the way from Brazil. • Speaking of Brazil, the soon-to-be host country has invested in their spot this year, with a bamboo wall draped in colorful fabric and a lot of plants. Pro tips: don’t buy coffee, just visit Australia. The baristas at this pavilion had a line all day so be nice to them — the coffee is free and really good. Also, the fresh baked pastry smell is coming from Paul on the left as soon as you walk into the Pavilion area. Don’t go searching for free pastries from France, as I did — you won’t find them. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov12" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2>Tuesday, Nov. 12</h2></div> By Jesse Chase-Lubitz BAKU, Azerbaijan — On Day 2 in Baku, everyone knows where they’re going. You would think that would make the vibes calmer, but instead it has created a heavy flow of traffic through the venue’s main hallways and left hundreds of COP staffers with nothing to do. One asked me if I needed help today and when I said no, he actually sighed in disappointment. The country has an impressive workforce supporting the event — multiple shuttles wait all day at over a dozen pick up spots throughout the city, Baku has closed main roads to traffic, and there are staffers every six feet telling you where to go. I wouldn’t be surprised if the city has employed its entire 18-to-24-year-old population to shuffle around the more than 65,000 guests. People are either very happy or very angry about the Article 6 carbon markets agreement cemented Monday night. Officials say it is an early win, but civil society says that an underregulated carbon market is worse than no carbon market. “For over twenty years, carbon markets have done precisely what they are supposed to do: delay real climate action,” said Joanna Cabello, senior researcher at the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations. “It’s time to accept that carbon offsets have become an obstacle to structural change and a dangerous threat to communities by ensuring that the fossil fuel-dependent economy can continue under an illusion of climate action.” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has had enough of the “petrol state” critique. In his opening speech on Tuesday, he raged against the accusations, saying that Azerbaijan accounts for less than 1% of global oil and gas production and that the Western governments criticizing the country are also the ones purchasing its oil and gas. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has faced a “campaign of slander and blackmail” among those who have called to boycott the summit. The United Kingdom stole the day by becoming one of the first countries to submit its nationally determined commitments, or NDCs. It committed to an 81% emissions reduction target by 2035. Officials are optimistic that this will lay good groundwork for forthcoming NDCs from other countries but the real test will be the New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG. The Joint MDB Committee, which includes the big seven MDBs, agreed to a $120 billion target for climate finance to low- and middle-income countries to be delivered by 2030. The target provides a bottom line as countries go into NCQG discussions next week. While MDBs are only observers to these discussions, this announcement shows that the banks are willing to increase their output — and it tells us that whatever goal countries agree on, it must at least exceed $120 billion. “This will probably have an influence,” said Esmyra Javier, senior climate change specialist in climate finance at the Asian Development Bank. “This was on the upper end of what was likely for them,” Melanie Robinson, the global climate, economics and finance program director at the World Resource Institute, said. “It does include quite a bit of stretch, possibly even some capital increase,” she said, adding that the calculations include an assumption that the MDBs are assuming a private finance mobilization rate of 54 cents per dollar by 2030, from the current 38 cents. “One thing we have to keep an eye on is the quality of that finance. We don't know what that level of concessionality is,” she added. There are further caveats to the banks giving this much money. This goal is still dependent on the borrowing countries. “There are many unknowns that we will confront,” Noelle O’Brien, the director of climate change for ADB’s Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department, told Devex on Tuesday. O’Brien was part of the negotiations with other MDBs to pull this agreement together. “It provides a floor for the NCQG negotiations. Will there be additional capital increases? What will be the borrowing context of the member countries? Most of the MDBs are aiming for in the range of 40-50% of their total portfolios to be climate. So that requires a willingness for our developing member countries to borrow for climate,” O’Brien said. In other news, the Taliban is at the conference for the first time since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. This is one of the most high-profile events they have attended. The U.N. does not allow them to have a seat on the General Assembly. The country does not have a pavilion but Azerbaijan invited them to attend as observers to “potentially participate in periphery discussions,” according to Reuters. “It’s important to have Afghanistan represented at COP29 — including voices from all Afghan communities,” said Dayne Curry, Mercy Corps country director for Afghanistan. “There may be disagreements about whether the Taliban should participate, but the fact is — they are. So, they must take seriously their responsibility to find solutions for all Afghan people, including ethnic minorities and women in remote regions.” Pavilions that caught my eye … or served me fun drinks • Giving credit where credit is due: Yesterday, a man was painting bespoke calligraphy on fans in front of the Chinese pavilion. The popularity caused some traffic. Today, I spotted him in his own corner spot next door. Good for him. • Azerbaijan expectedly has a prime spot at a center crossroads. Three women dressed in traditional Azerbaijani garb serve tea all day and are endlessly busy. I tried twice to get a cup but by the second time they had run out. • Japan gets a shout out for giving out sake and crackers at 5:30 p.m. Pro tips • Australia shut down its coffee stand early today. If that happens to you, I’m told Indonesia and Ethiopia serve a very good cup. • If you want to use Bolt, the ride-hailing app, beware that the first option that comes will be a “COP29” option that’s a million times more expensive than the following options. There is nothing special about COP29 taxis other than the fact that they fool you. • If just traveling to and from the venue, figure out what neighborhood you’re in and use the transport map. There will be a pickup spot, or “hub” near you. Props to Devex • I was sitting with my Devex water bottle today and someone who doesn’t work at Devex asked me where I got it. We’ve got some serious fans! <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov13" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2>Wednesday, Nov. 13</h2></div> By Jesse Chase-Lubitz BAKU, Azerbaijan — There are officially way too many people at COP29. I was caught in multiple human traffic jams throughout the venue, the baristas in the Australian pavilion are exhausted, and I’m suddenly more aware of how temporary this structure is. The good news is that the workforce has found a new purpose shuffling people around. Negotiations on NCQG are already beginning behind closed doors. The first iteration of the decision, published on Wednesday, shows little in the way of agreement, with several options proposed for financial commitments, equitable distribution, and accountability mechanisms. “It is difficult to see a way forward with this NCQG text, and we expect there to be considerable input from Parties on it,” said Debbie Hillier, Mercy Corps’ policy lead for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC. For more information on everything being discussed and how it will impact development, check out our story that digs into the details of finance. Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin announced the country’s new NDC for 2035 on Wednesday, becoming the second country to do so this year after the United Kingdom. The country’s goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 59% to 67% below 2005 levels by 2035. “[Brazilian] President [Luiz Inácio] Lula [da Silva] is fully committed to being an example and a major player,” said Alckmin, adding that Brazil has cut Amazon deforestation by 45.7%. Brazil has plans to increase digging for oil, however. The vice president said that the country will be using ethanol, which he called a green alternative. Ethanol as fuel does cause less emissions than gasoline, but the growing and production ends up creating more. Alckmin also said that the Brazilian Senate is in the process of voting for a bill that established a regulation for the carbon market — an especially hot topic after Article 6 was <a href="#nov11">finalized Monday.</a> Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Australia, and the Pacific launched the “Indigenous Peoples’ Troika” today, which is meant to help coordinate indigenous groups from the regions during COP29, COP30, and COP31. The name “troika” echoes the COP Presidencies Troika, launched in COP28 to coordinate the conferences in Dubai, Baku, and Belém. Members of the new troika hope that this collaboration will help make indigenous voices prominent in climate negotiations. “Today’s announcement of the indigenous troika marks an exciting opportunity for global south solidarity and the preservation of dignified multilateralism,” said Joseph Sikulu, Pacific managing director at 350.org. You can expect the mood to change Thursday as organized actions (aka protests approved by UNFCCC) are set to begin. Activists will be calling out countries that are making big promises but not delivering at the finance negotiations, taking a photo in the center of the stadium (if you haven’t ventured outside, we are in fact all walking around an outdoor stadium all day), and using this opportunity to protest the invasion of Gaza in front of world leaders. A photo plan featuring giant inflatable Pikachu suits to focus attention on dirty fossil finance and to demand that governments stop financing fossil fuels was planned for Thursday, the thematic “Finance Day,” but has been postponed. No word yet on when Pikachu will join us. “Tomorrow [Thursday] many will be wearing white to honour the victims of genocide in Palestine, whose names will be read out every morning here at the climate conference,” said Alison Doig, clean energy campaign manager at Recourse, an international NGO. “The defiant call is for climate justice, and as negotiations for a new climate finance goal begin in earnest, the message to wealthy countries will be: pay up!” Apparently UNFCCC asked that the activists not engage in stomping due to the temporary nature of the venue. Pavilions that caught my eye • None. Do not attempt to go to the pavilions. You may never leave. • If you’re looking for something to do unrelated to climate finance and policy, there is ample opportunity to photo-bomb broadcasters and TikTokers around the venue. But be careful, I saw a man jogging backwards while filming. Pro tip/request If you need to change directions in the hallways, do not stop and turn around. Make a U-turn or get off at the nearest exit. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov14" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2> Thursday, Nov. 14 </h2></div> By Jesse Chase-Lubitz BAKU, Azerbaijan — It’s time to complain about the food. I know you were all waiting for this moment. Well, it’s finally here. First of all, the food is approximately three times more expensive than it would be outside of the venue. Yesterday, I got two side salads and paid the equivalent of $25. Second, no doctor in the world would recommend that world leaders negotiate the future of humanity while being fed the options available: ham sandwiches, pastries, and Dominos (!?). There is one vegan and vegetarian stall, but every time I have visited the food hall, they have been sold out. Outside the COP venue, my culinary experience has been consistently strange and occasionally incredible. I tried something called a “pomegranate bracelet salad,” which is a circular salad consisting of chicken fillet (gotta have meat in your salad!) potato, carrot, egg, beetroot, mayonnaise, and of course, pomegranate. Go ahead, read that again. I did thoroughly enjoy one of the country’s most traditional dishes, shah pilaf, which translates to “the king of pilafs” and is shaped like a crown. Yesterday was finance day at COP. That doesn’t mean any new financial progress was made. It just means we all talked a lot about finance. I spoke with a couple of leaders about their perspectives on the details of some of the climate finance mechanisms: carbon credits, debt, and Just Energy Transition Partnerships, or JETPs. The Rockefeller Foundation announced plans this morning to invest $10.9 million into the energy transition in Africa. While the largest portion — $5 million — will go to the development of mini-grids in rural Zambia, another $3 million will go to the African School of Regulation, which teaches officials across Africa about carbon credits, among other things. I doubt there has ever been a COP where people talk more about carbon markets in Africa. It is one of those sideline conversations that’s destined to become central to the discussions next year. So far, six African countries have signed carbon credit deals since the African Carbon Markets Initiative, or ACMI, was launched in 2022 at COP27: Malawi, Kenya, Gabon, Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana. The Rockefeller Foundation is part of ACMI and is working to help build up carbon market capacity around the continent. “It’s kind of a big deal that we have six countries working on this just two years later,” William Asiko, vice president for Africa at the Rockefeller Foundation, told Devex. Asiko was so popular after his brief cameo at a carbon credit panel that his press person had to pull him away and find us a cubicle to sit in. “Sierra Leone just said they wanted to sign up just now,” he said, referring to his moment of fame. While much of Africa could benefit from engaging in carbon credits, these markets lack regulation and the recent Article 6 decision didn’t do much to tighten the laws. But Asiko said it’s progress. “I feel really happy about what we’ve had at this COP because it does set a basis now for countries to do compliance market regulation,” Asiko said. However, there are no plans in place for a continental market regulation. “We are talking to the African Union to get to that stage and the African Union has got a lot of things to push through,” Asiko said. “I’m not going to say when or how it’s going to happen, but if it does, that can only be good.” Asiko, like most people I have spoken to at COP, seems unperturbed by the U.S. election results — choosing to redirect his focus rather than dwell on what the U.S. may or may not do. “The election was what it was. We have a lot of things we can focus on. We don’t have to always depend on external resources or institutions or countries to come do things for us,” Asiko said. “I think if we can focus on those things within our control, I think that’s better for us.” Another big finance topic is debt. Total global debt hit $312 trillion in the second quarter of this year, with a large chunk of that due to climate finance. No one seems to have any plans to fix this problem, especially not the MDBs giving the loans. “I’m a banker. A development banker. So it’s always a bit awkward to talk about debt relief to bankers,” Rémy Rioux, CEO of the French Development Agency, or AFD, told Devex. “Finance is finance. No country in the world ever developed without debt.” He said that there’s a need for more concessional loans and that they are trying to be “very attentive to the specific needs of each country” to help them avoid defaulting on their debt. Rioux said that for now, the good news is that countries are not defaulting on their debt, even though the consequence is that they cut key spending and investment. The AFD has made waves in the energy transition sector, however. They have led the charge to develop Just Energy Transition Partnerships, or JETPs, in South Africa and Indonesia, as well as several other countries around the world. Critics have pointed out that these partnerships are slow going, but Rioux said that’s not the case. “We are doing very difficult things,” he said. “I don’t know what slow means here, of course we want something to happen overnight, but I mean we decided to set this up in 2021, signed our first operation in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022, we signed a second one with 70% of the commitment in 2024. I don’t think that’s slow.” He said that the goal is for countries to build their own individual platforms for just energy transitions, adding that they are trying to “bring back national developments and public development banks. In the end, it’s not AFD doing projects in South Africa,” he said. “It’s South African projects led by the government. So we are in the process of turning the system upside down.” Pavilions that caught my eye I was brave enough to venture back into the pavilion room today, and I’m glad I did. •The Ukraine pavilion is covered in recycled paper filled with seeds. Following the conference the paper will be broken down and planted around the world as a symbol of working toward a shared green future. The structure is also meant to show Ukraine’s commitment to global climate goals even though their ecosystem, energy, and food security are in jeopardy due to the war. • Côte d’Ivoire brought lots of cashews to COP29. Go hang out there and the representatives will tell you about how the country is a leader in the world for cashew production (my favorite nut!). •Finally, the people at the Moana pavilion showcased traditional Pacific dancing throughout the day today. Also, the delegates there are incredibly nice and pass out flowers that you can wear in your hair if you need a little pick-me-up. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov15" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2> Friday, Nov. 15 </h2></div> By Jesse Chase-Lubitz BAKU, Azerbaijan — It’s the end of the first week and everyone is either exhausted or they just arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. There is a sense of a changeover in the air. Several times today I saw the venue staff getting their photos taken in front of different pavilions. Others were doing repairs on some of the railings. As promised, Pikachu showed up for a protest today, joined by several civil society organizations calling on Australia, Japan, and South Korea to stop their fossil fuel cooperation. If you’re wondering about the significance of Pikachu — the cute little mascot of the Pokémon media franchise — so was I. “Pikachu was protesting because their home country, Japan, is financing fossil fuels on a massive scale in countries around the world,” explained Hiroki Osada, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth Japan. “Japan is the third-largest financier of fossil fuels globally. Ending fossil fuel financing is an indispensable step for Japan to align its financial practices with climate goals." Presumably, this means Pikachu and Rolycoly, the Pokémon shaped like a lump of coal, are no longer on speaking terms. Argentina withdrew its delegation from COP29 earlier this week, and President Javier Milei is reportedly considering exiting the Paris Agreement — just as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump did during his first term. Argentine Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein said the South American country has not yet made a decision, but that the deal “has a lot of elements” that the government disagrees with. Today I spoke with James Ellsmoor, the founder and director of Island Innovation, which is a platform that connects islands around the world to work on common struggles such as climate change, dependence on tourism, and waste. The group is in the very early stages of trying to solve a big problem for the world’s neglected populations in subnational island jurisdictions, or SNIJ, meaning areas like Hawaii, the British Virgin Islands, and the Faroe Islands, that face the same threats as small island developing nations, or SIDS, but are governed by continental governments. “These subnational island jurisdictions have the same reality as SIDS, but they can only go to their own governments for development,” said Ellsmoor. “It’s not about global north or global south countries, it’s about geographic vulnerability.” Island Innovation is working on an agreement to address these regions, which they plan to present at their Global Sustainable Islands Summit in May 2025. Negotiators are working on a decision text for the loss and damage fund, which was launched last year. Different countries are vying for their own interests — China wants an emphasis on technology and finance, for example, while Nepal wants mountain ecosystems included in the bill — but negotiators also want to streamline the text. We’ll know more next week. Meanwhile, the pressure is on to raise funding for adaptation, but parties are struggling to actually prioritize it as a topic. Fewer meetings than expected have been held on the three areas of adaptation finance negotiations — the adaptation committee; the global goal on adaptation, or GCA; and national adaptation plans, or NAPs — and some are frustrated that it could once again be left behind. Attendees are getting ready to head off into the rest day on Sunday. I’ve heard there’s a natural-gas fire that is continuously ablaze about 20 minutes from Baku because of all the oil beneath the surface. Perhaps worth a drive? Pavilions (and people) to note today • I finally managed to get the tea at the Azerbaijani pavilion, which has had a long line every other day this week. It’s worth a try. • Thailand won my heart today because it gave out sticky rice with a mysterious topping that was delicious. After eating two different kinds of croissants for lunch, this tiny dessert somehow felt fulfilling. • On a wholesome note, a man brought his guitar to the venue and serenaded the baristas at one of the coffee stalls with a bespoke song. It was a nice moment at about 6:30 p.m. that everyone needed. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov18" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2> Monday, Nov. 18 </h2></div> By Ayenat Mersie BAKU, Azerbaijan — Welcome to Week 2 of the U.N. Climate Change Conference! Sunday marked Azerbaijan’s National Revival Day, commemorating the 1988 protests that eventually led to the country’s independence from the Soviet Union. The word “revival” feels fitting for the weekend at COP29 as well, with teams on the ground swapping out members, bringing a wave of fresh faces grinning into the badge-printing cameras and fresh legs stomping through the creaky temporary structure surrounding Baku Olympic Stadium. Monday’s theme at the conference was a broad one, focusing on human development. Several organizations signed onto the Baku Initiative on Human Development for Climate Resilience, a pledge aimed at addressing climate change’s impacts on areas like education and social issues and improving coordination between groups working on these issues. While what this actually means is unclear, Monday featured a range of events centered on human development. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization explored how small and medium-sized enterprises could drive adaptation innovations, while the International Organization for Migration hosted an event on the connections between human trafficking and climate change. And Ukraine (along with researchers) discussed the climate impact of Russia’s invasion and the relationship between climate and conflict. It’s a well-known and oft-discussed, if sometimes oversimplified, relationship. It’s not usually as simple as saying that climate change causes war, but climate change and its shocks can exacerbate and complicate existing tensions. It also makes regular people more vulnerable to the effects of war, just as war — and especially the displacement it causes — leaves people more exposed to the impacts of climate change. This is something Sudanese climate activist Nisreen Elsaim knows all too well. A longtime advocate for climate action in Sudan, the outbreak of war there last year forced her to flee, fundamentally reshaping her work. In July, floods devastated internally displaced people and refugee camps in Sudan. “I was trying to talk to everyone and say, look, maybe climate change is not the priority right now, but climate change will not say, ‘look these people are having war. I will give them an easy time.’ It will keep hitting,” Elsaim told me. A few members of an organization she works with, the Youth and Environment Society, are still in Sudan and with the help of hundreds of volunteers, they now work on addressing the immediate humanitarian needs of displaced people across several states. But they continue some of their environmental work in the background. “Most of the IDPs don’t have energy sources so they use charcoal. So a lot of tree cutting is happening. I think we have lost more than a quarter of our forests since the start of the war because of the cutting, the use of charcoal. So we are trying to document that and also find alternatives for lighting and cooking … it’s hard to manufacture inside of the country. It’s even harder to bring in things cross-border. But we are trying.” Monday felt like a lead-up to Tuesday’s Food, Agriculture and Water Day, with food systems and water taking center stage in several side events. Sweden’s climate ambassador announced plans to include sustainable food systems, with nutrition targets, in their updated NDCs. Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization released a report showing that while most countries highlight agrifood systems as a climate priority, current NDCs only address 40% of emissions from these systems. Hopefully FAO’s Tuesday event, which it is co-hosting with the World Wildlife Fund and the COP29 presidency, will offer some actionable next steps on this. Meanwhile, negotiators are still sparring over the week’s acronym heavyweight: NCQG. While there wasn’t much movement in Baku on Monday, leaders of the Group of 20 largest and emerging economies who are now gathered half a world away in Rio de Janeiro looked to see if the Marvelous City could inspire a marvelous breakthrough on climate finance. And, as of Monday night, there were reports of a fragile but promising consensus. The World Resources Institute kept things light but optimistic at a Monday evening reception, with its president, Ani Dasgupta, joking that anyone who uttered “NCQG” during the event owed $10 to a swear jar. The event, which was held in a century-old abandoned oil processing facility that’s now a brewery, spotlighted innovators like Rania Duri. Duri is the co-founder of African Bamboo, a USAID and African Development Bank grant award-winning startup that’s working to replace concrete, steel, plastic and tropical timber with bamboo-based fibers in Ethiopia. The company also promises to restore and reforest degraded lands in the process. A fitting end to a day of revival. Pavilion of the day: Walk over to Mali’s booth, tucked into a corner of the pavilions, and you’ll find a space that’s fairly sparse — except for a larger-than-life photo of the military ruler, dressed in fatigues and a green beret, wearing a blank expression. Tell me your country had a coup without telling me your country had a coup. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov19" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2> Tuesday, Nov. 19 </h2></div> By Ayenat Mersie BAKU, Azerbaijan — There are no windows in casinos so that players can lose track of time and gamble their cash away, the old adage goes. Here in the windowless COP29 venue in Baku, the sun is hidden from sight, but we still haven’t gotten rich countries to part with their money. The New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG, remains woefully unquantified as low- and middle-income countries continue to push for $1 trillion in climate finance while some wealthy countries are reportedly setting their sights on $200 billion to $300 billion. “If $200-300 billion is indeed the ballpark for what developed countries will offer, then this is a betrayal — a betrayal of the communities around the world who, whilst least responsible for climate change, are bearing its most devastating consequences,” Debbie Hillier, global climate policy lead at Mercy Corps, said. It’s also essential that the NCQG contains an adaptation subgoal: “A continent of 1.4 billion people and 54 countries producing less than 4% of the total emissions — we can’t talk about anything other than adaptation,” Ali Mohamed, special climate envoy for Kenya and chair of the African Group of Negotiators, told me as he walked between meetings in the Baku stadium. “Adaptation is much more important for us as the African group. Because we really have nothing to do with mitigation. If there is mitigation, it’s a co-benefit of adaptation.” And developing countries tried, as always, to appeal to the idea of responsibility: “Developed economies have been built on the back of polluting,” Sierra Leone’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Jiwoh Abdulai told a press conference. “Our people have been subsidizing, providing environmental subsidies to these developed countries for centuries.” But much of the discussions on Tuesday were focused on food and water, which were the day’s official themes. How can we protect farmers who are among the most vulnerable to climate change? And how can we increase food production so that people aren’t going hungry — all without destroying the planet? “Every day between now and 2050 it gets harder to feed the world,” said Jack Bobo, a professor and the director of the Food Systems Institute at University of Nottingham. “On the other hand, if we can actually achieve our goals by 2050 — if that’s the case — then every day after 2050 it will get easier to feed the world because global population levels off very quickly after 2050 and is declining by the end of the century. So we really only have this one 25-year window where we either save the planet or destroy it in terms of agriculture,” said Bobo, who was formerly the senior adviser on global food policy in the U.S. State Department. The recurring criticism heard throughout many of the discussions on Tuesday was that not enough climate financing was actually going to where it was most needed: “Right now, as much as we talk about climate finance, depending on the calculation, we feel that only about one of every $100 invested in climate finance goes to small-scale farmers. We estimate that proper climate adaptation among small-scale farmers will require flows of up to $75 billion a year,” Juan Carlos Mendoza, director of IFAD's environment, climate, gender and social inclusion division, told me. One way the International Fund for Agricultural Development tries to ensure its investments reach where they are most needed, is through detailed mapping, Mendoza said. “When we design projects with the government, we do a combination of overlaying geographic poverty and climate vulnerability maps. And by this, I mean literally maps and GIS information to make sure that our investments reach the households that need it the most, and that up until now have the highest requirements on adaptation finance.” Development institutions say they are stepping up their financing for farmers. Last month, World Bank President Ajay Banga announced that the bank would be doubling its investments in agribusiness to $9 billion annually. Today, most of these investments go through the International Finance Corporation — about $3 billion of the existing $4.5 billion — Anup Jagwani, IFC’s head of global agribusiness, told me in Baku. So the increase will mean a doubling for IFC too and a doubling of its investments in African agribusiness specifically given that the region is a priority for the lender, Jagwani said. The first step? Scaling up existing investments. “In Ethiopia, we have Soufflet, a company. Ethiopia was importing most of its barley beer, right? But today it's only importing a fraction of that barley because we've supported a company that is buying from local farmers. The number of farmers increased from 25,000 to 80,000 farmers,” Jagwani told me. Expect a scale-up of this €20 million investment and a scale-up of investments into other companies like it, he said. Meanwhile, as negotiators wrestle over the grand prize at COP29 — a final communique that includes firm donor financial commitments — other important side deals have already come together. Azerbaijan marks the first COP to host a Digitalization Day, which resulted in a declaration to boost climate action with digital technologies while cutting the environmental impacts of those same technologies. The COP29 Declaration on Green Digital Action was endorsed by over 1,000 governments, companies, civil society groups, and other organizations, with the support of the International Telecommunication Union. “These technologies are an important driving force towards achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially in areas such as climate monitoring, early warning systems and building resilience to climate challenges,” Rashad Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transport​​, said in a press release. Despite the pros of digital technologies, there are cons as well, such as the growing resource consumption and emissions associated with data centers and artificial intelligence, the carbon and pollution footprints of tech manufacturing, and the growing challenge of e-waste. “Yes, there are risks and negatives from digital technologies, as for many new innovations and technologies, and they need to be controlled and managed. And the green digital action initiative really aims to make sure that we do manage that,” ITU Deputy Secretary-General Tomas Lamanauskas told Devex President and Editor-in-chief Raj Kumar. “But at the same time, these are very powerful tools that can empower the development community,” he added, citing advancements such as early disaster warning systems, satellite monitoring, smart agriculture, and virtual health care. “But we need to avoid siloed approaches and think also about investing in a foundational infrastructure on which we build specific solutions.” Pavilion of the day: Today we give a shoutout to all the sparsely decorated pavilions. Because the costs associated with decking one out are pretty insane — often running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars (or beyond!). “You see that plant over there?” Asked one exasperated pavilion designer, motioning at a hip-height, healthy-looking but not exactly spectacular fiddle leaf plant. I nodded. “Hundreds and hundreds of dollars,” they said, shaking their head. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov20" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2> Wednesday, Nov. 20 </h2></div> By Ayenat Mersie BAKU, Azerbaijan — For those of you who didn’t ask: The domain www.ncqg.com is available for a cool $14,999. Could it be a better use of money than paying for the very expensive fit-out of COP pavilion plants? I hope someone carries out that experiment and reports back. Speaking of NCQG, we are finally entering the juicy, difficult part — getting to an actual number. But what that number — which is essentially how much money lower-income countries will get annually to mitigate and adapt to climate change — will be is still far from clear. There are four major proposals still afloat: $900 billion, $600 billion, $440 billion, and the current amount of $100 billion, according to Salomé Lehtman, project and advocacy adviser at Mercy Corps. The EU was reportedly eyeing $200 billion to $300 billion, according to Politico. When asked how he would respond to $200 billion, Diego Pacheco, head of the Bolivian delegation to the UNFCCC, replied, “Is this a joke?” While lower-income countries have unanimously called for $1 trillion, representatives of the Group of 77 — a coalition of lower-income countries — said that there is no hard line that would make them walk out of negotiations. “We will continue engaging positively until the last minute,” said Adonia Ayebare, who chairs the G77 on behalf of Uganda. A draft text is expected to be submitted at midnight Wednesday — but “typically when I see midnight I interpret that as 5 or 6 in the morning,” said David Waskow, director of the World Resource Institute’s International Climate Initiative. So, prepare for a long night. The structure of the text is not clear; nor is whether there may have been substantive needle-moving conversations on who should be a part of the contributor base. There have been growing rumblings from some states that economically fast-growing countries such as India and China should no longer be considered “developing” countries. Several countries that remain officially classified by the U.N. as “developing” — such as China, India, and Brazil — already actually provide a lot of climate finance to lower-income countries. “Acknowledging that China is already a significant, voluntary contributor to climate finance could make developed countries more comfortable increasing their own contributions, and ultimately facilitate negotiations for larger collective climate finance commitments,” WRI wrote earlier this month. And while the tense debates continued behind closed doors on Wednesday, the main theme for the rest of the conference was a first for a COP: tourism. Around half of all NDCs recognize tourism as a sector vulnerable to the effects of climate change; while the sector under a business-as-usual scenario is set to increase emissions by 25% by 2030, according to UN Tourism. Transport and urbanization were also on the agenda on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in Paris, France summoned Azerbaijan’s ambassador, citing “unacceptable” remarks made by Azerbaijani authorities against France, without going into specifics. At COP29 last week, the Azerbaijani president accused France of crimes in its overseas territories, prompting the French climate minister to cancel her trip to the conference. Pavilion of the day: The 80-ounce cup of thick, strong dark roast served traditional style at Ethiopia’s pavilion put a pep in my step and made it feel like someone had just jumpstarted my brain. Leave it to the birthplace of arabica to remind us who the king of coffee is. That’s an especially important reminder given the fact that Ethiopia’s prized beans are highly vulnerable to climate change — rising temperatures might make it hard to grow the beans in huge swathes of the country. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov21" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2>Thursday, Nov. 21</h2></div> By Ayenat Mersie BAKU, Azerbaijan — If you followed my suggestion from yesterday’s notebook and snagged the NCQG domain, I’ve brainstormed a few creative ways you could use it. How about “Negotiations Circling Quite Gradually”? Or maybe “Not Certain: Quibbling Groups”? Perhaps “Numbers Can’t Quite Gel”? No? You’re still committed to “New Collective Quantified Goal”? Fair enough — but brace yourself, because you might be waiting a while longer to see what that goal actually looks like. A draft text was published Thursday morning, but it’s still vague — no actual numbers in sight. Lower-income countries are pushing for an unspecified amount in the trillions of dollars, with a portion to come from public finance. Meanwhile, developed countries are proposing that trillions be mobilized by 2035 — without committing to a specific public finance target. “For their part, developing countries demand greater political will, reiterating that the New Goal should be delivered through grants and highly concessional finance to avoid worsening the debt crisis,” read a joint statement from several lower-income countries. “There are innovative strategies to breach the finance gap, including fiscal measures by developed countries such as redirecting fossil fuel subsidies, to raise new public resources and re-orient current existing public expending to as much $1.3 trillion per year.” There were a few other updates in terms of text, including new drafts of the Mitigation Work Program and the Global Goal on Adaptation. There’s no mention of the global goal in the NCQG draft document — something that concerns lower-income countries, said Gabrielle Swaby of the World Resource Institute, as they want an explicit link between the two documents to ensure their adaptation efforts are supported. “These last two days are the most difficult ones,” Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, global leader of Climate & Energy at World Wildlife Fund, told me. And he would know — he was the president of COP20 in Lima. “It is natural that there are crises because we will always have some contentious topics, but it depends on how able is the president to manage those difficulties, to overcome those difficulties, to build a consensus, and to get a good outcome. It is Thursday, we cannot prejudge the end of the COP, because sometimes the COP can surprise us. So let’s see what that outcome will be. I am optimistic.” Thursday’s themes were nature and biodiversity; Indigenous people; gender equality; and oceans and coastal zones. Events emphasized the importance of integrating gender equality into programming, elevating Indigenous-led solutions, prioritizing the protection of oceans, and advancing nature-based solutions. “This idea of putting nature at the center of the discussion is taking shape,” Grethel Aguilar, the director-general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said. “Nature-based solutions can help us, all of us humans, to really tackle adaptation, climate change, but also mitigation.” Last week, the organization released an alarming report that found that nearly half of reef-building coral species are at risk of extinction. Coral reefs are highly vulnerable to climate change due to warming oceans and acidification, but they also contribute to mitigation by storing carbon and protecting coastlines. “We need to link the commitments made in COP16 together with what is happening here, because in our view, the agenda should not be biodiversity on one hand and climate change on the other, but the two areas need to be together.” Pavilion of the day: Indonesia’s lush, plant-filled pavilion feels like stepping into a rainforest. Today, it buzzed with energy as dancers in traditional attire — yes, including an adorable child — clapped and swayed, even inviting passersby on stage. “Do this four times,” one twirling dancer coached a smiling participant who jumped right in. Meanwhile, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced Wednesday that Indonesia, where coal accounts for around one-third of its overall energy mix and two-thirds of its electricity mix, plans to retire all coal plants within 15 years. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a> <div id="nov22" style="border-top: 3px dotted #ff9900; padding-top: 10px;"><h2>Friday, Nov. 22</h2></div> By Ayenat Mersie It’s the last official day, and it feels like it. The pavilions are being dismantled, lockers are being cleaned out, and many have swapped slacks for jeans, looking ready to head out the door. Conversations feel looser, steps slower, and with the crowds thinning, the lack of body heat has left the air noticeably colder. And people are tired. I saw one woman lying down on the carpeted floor sit up ever so slightly so that she could fluff her backpack like a pillow before settling back in. Respect. But don’t let the calm fool you. Two spaces remain packed and bustling: The plenary and the media room, of course. Why? Because while most of the venue is cooling down, the real action is heating up. It’s like that final period of the school day when a few students are still feverishly working on a group project worth half their grade. Here, that project is the main takeaway of COP29: How much money is on the table. The latest draft of the New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG, has left almost everyone underwhelmed. It proposes $250 billion in annual climate finance from high-income countries, with a broader aim to scale up to $1.3 trillion by 2035. However, the $250 billion is only a modest increase from the $100 billion pledged under the Paris Agreement, and the draft text sidesteps critical issues such as the quality of financing and the level of concessionality. “We have been asking for months and months for a core that’s minimum one trillion of public finance. What do we have here? $250 billion of public-private finance. It’s just repeating the same mistake of the $100 billion,” Rebecca Thissen, climate finance expert at the Climate Action Network, said. “The draft text gives us a shot at boosting quality, but we lost clarity on how to reach it — all elements and layers have been blended into one pot. Even with quality gains, the proposed goal of $250 billion doesn’t meet the level of ambition we should see from such a wide range of sources. It doesn’t even match the text’s own ambition, nor the consensus reached last year in Dubai,” Juan Pablo Hoffmaister of the Environmental Defense Fund wrote. “The Alliance of Small Island Developing States is deeply disappointed in the state of the most recent text, which basically asks Parties ‘how low can you go?’ on climate ambition. This is unacceptable,” the organization said in a statement. “The proposed $250 billion a year by 2035 is no floor, but a cap that will severely stagnate climate action efforts. … We cannot be expected to agree to a text which shows such contempt for our vulnerable people.” There were also drafts for a host of other documents, including the MWP, Mitigation Work Programme, aiming to scale up emissions reduction efforts; GGA, Global Goal on Adaptation, setting targets for building resilience; GST, Global Stocktake, a comprehensive review of progress toward Paris Agreement goals; and JTWP, Just Transition Work Programme, focused on equitable shifts to low-carbon economies. “The Just Transition text is unacceptable and lacks balance between domestic and international dimensions of just transitions,” said Ali Mohamed, chair of the African Group of Negotiators. And on the GGA, Mohamed said the group was deeply disappointed that the draft failed to provide clear guidance on indicators to track the means of implementation for adaptation. New NCQG text is expected early Saturday morning. Let’s hope it’s better than the last version — because no one wants to end this “school year” with a failing grade. <a rel="noopener" target="_self" href="#top"><b>Back to top ↑</b></a>