Baku, Azerbaijan — The 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP29) has opened amid deep divisions over agenda items, fossil fuel lobbying by the host nation, and new carbon market rules that threaten to derail urgent climate action. Critical issues such as climate finance, just transitions, human rights, and the protection of Indigenous land and environmental defenders are already at risk.
Ironically themed "In Solidarity for a Green World", COP29 is hosted by a petrostate with a troubling human rights record, highlighting the urgent need for the UNFCCC Secretariat to address conflicts of interest and ensure host nations respect fundamental civic and political rights. These rights are indispensable for achieving meaningful climate justice.
COP29 continues against the backdrop of a fossil fuel driven genocide in Palestine and war in Lebanon, with developed countries spending billions of US dollars on military aid on wars and funding an apartheid regime, rather than fulfilling their financial obligations under the Paris Accords. On day one at the conference, civil society groups mobilized in the corridors of COP29, demanding an end to fossil fuels and genocide .
In October, the UNEP released its Emissions Gap Report, confirming global temperatures are still projected to rise by 2.6°C by the end of the century, likely to push the planet beyond irreversible tipping points, threatening biodiversity, humanity and life as we know it. The failure to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C is largely due to lacking financial support from developed countries, who are historically most responsible for the climate crisis.
Without finance for developing nations, the world's most vulnerable communities are unable to mitigate, adapt to climate change and rebuild from loss and damage.
At COP29, the primary fight will be for parties to agree on a new and ambitious climate finance goal, essential to achieving a fair and adequate response to the climate crisis. The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is a critical opportunity for developed countries to fulfil legal and moral obligations under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement to provide the means for implementation, enabling developing nations to phase out fossil fuels, mitigate climate change and adapt to the disproportionate impacts of climate change borne by the global south.
Linked to the need for climate finance and a fossil fuel phase out, is the need to resist false solutions and dangerous distractions like carbon markets, offsets and geoengineering being punted by companies and parties, especially in the global north, intent on profiting from the crisis and continuing business as usual.
Parties should reject the reliance and use of carbon market mechanisms, and if states continue to use and rely on them, it is critical that they are using rules that will prevent fraud as well as violations of human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, parties should be guided by the recent COP16 reiteration of the moratorium on unproven geoengineering tech fixes (solar radiation modification) and ensure these be discussed within the bounds of existing and binding international Human Rights law obligations.
Natural Justice is in Baku for the entirety of the conference and will be observing negotiations related to the important role of women and Indigenous Peoples in achieving climate justice. In alliance with civil society organizations NJ will be advocating for the inclusion of language on equity, a human rights-based approach climate action , a just energy transition and grant-based climate finance, with a specific focus on the urgent need for state parties to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of environmental and land defenders who are increasingly facing reprisals for their important activism in safeguarding the climate and environmental democracy.
NJ experts have the following hopes for COP29 outcomes:
"Climate justice is unattainable without a firm commitment to gender justice. At COP29, we call on governments to place women's rights and gender equality at the heart of every negotiation. This means not only strengthening the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender (ELWGP) and the Gender Action Plan (GAP) but aligning them with the urgent and transformative demands of the Women and Gender Constituency Women, especially those from marginalized communities, are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, and their voices, leadership, and lived experiences must drive climate action and finance. Anything less is a failure of justice." - Farida Aliwa, Natural Justice Executive Director.
"Every year developing nations, while being slammed with climate induced loss and damage, come to the COP reminding developed countries to fulfil their financial obligations under the Paris Agreement. The principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, equity and historical responsibility compel developed countries to demonstrate their commitment to justice, democracy and human rights. Let's hope at COP29, developed nations put their money where their mouths are." - Katherine Robinson, Natural Justice, Head of Campaigns.
"This year African leaders must work solidarity to transition away from fossil fuels and centering human rights. They should push developed states for an ambitious finance goal that ensures Africa can address loss and damage and urgently fund adaptation to the climate crisis. African negotiators must ensure the NCQG is commensurate with the crisis and grants-based, avoiding further debt and poverty on our continent" - Sokhna Die Ka, Natural Justice, West African Hub Director.
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"From this COP, we need practical solutions meeting the needs of Africans through a human rights and justice centered energy transition. Communities and Indigenous People in Africa have already paid the price of fossil fuel driven global economy. There needs to be a recognition of the inequality in energy consumption and energy poverty suffered by Africa. No more loans placing Africa into further debt. It is time for polluters, those who have benefited from the unjust energy system, to pay up." - Lauren Nel, Natural Justice, Coordinator for Just Energy Transitions Africa (JETA)
"Across the world we are seeing an exponential rise in violence, harassment, stigmatization, and the enactment of legislation aimed at criminalizing defenders and restricting their participation, especially within the context of the climate action and energy transition. States must recognise the role of Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs) in addressing climate change- an enabling environment for civil society and EHRDs is essential for safeguarding environmental democracy, addressing the climate crisis and ensuring a just transition."- Tawonga Chihana, Natural Justice, Coordinator for the African Environmental Defenders Initiative.
