© COP29

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29) in Baku

The international community met for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Here the most important results at a glance.

“Team Germany”, which was comprised of multiple Federal Ministers, came to the conference ready to discuss the following key topics: tripling global renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, moving away from fossil fuels and reducing methane emissions. Industrial decarbonisation is to be driven forward, and international climate finance reconceptualised with higher objectives, more contributing countries and an even stronger role played by private-sector investment.

^{New climate finance goal agreed for the post-2025 period}

A key result of the conference was the agreement on a new climate finance goal for the period after 2025, which has been called the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). Until the end of 2025, industrialised countries have agreed to make 100 billion US dollars available each year for the fight against climate change and for the implementation of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in developing countries. The latter describes countries that have barely contributed to climate change themselves, yet are often strongly affected by it. The new goal is designed to grow the amount of available funds to at least 300 billion US dollars (around 288 billion euros) by 2035. Not only developed countries are to contribute to reaching the goals. Other countries which have since grown prosperous, such as China, are to be called on do so as well.
Developed countries are thus no longer responsible for reaching global finance goals on their own. At the same time, the result underscores the key role of private-sector investments and the comparatively limited role of public funding.

^{Negotiations on cross-border carbon markets}

After almost ten years, negotiations on cross-border carbon markets (Article 6 of the Paris Agreement) finally concluded. The regulations are to ensure transparency and trustworthy standards for bilateral trade between states and with companies. The market mechanisms can now transition to the use phase. Companies in particular can now gain reliable, internationally regulated access to the carbon market in line with Article 6.4 of the Agreement.

^{Climate Club: an international forum for decarbonisation of industry}

The Climate Club, which has 43 members from industrialised, emerging and developing countries, was able to present important results at COP 29. Chaired by Germany and Chile, this is now the most important international forum on decarbonisation of industry and wants to create the necessary conditions for industrial and production processes that are as carbon-free or low-carbon as possible. In Baku, results of the work on shared definitions and interoperable standards for green basic materials like steel and cement were presented. The results of a joint understanding of the challenges of ambitious decarbonisation (such as carbon leakage, for example) and ways of handling this was also presented. The work of the Climate Club forms an important framework for building international green markets and paves the way for the accelerated decarbonisation of heavy industry. Find out more about the Climate Club at COP 29 here.

^{Official start for Global Matchmaking Platform (GMP)}

The Global Matchmaking Program (GMP) of the Climate Club was officially launched in Baku and will be overseen by the Secretariat of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. The program serves as a central mechanism in supporting industrial decarbonisation in emerging and developing countries and cooperates with a growing network of international partners.

Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) are jointly making around 1.3 billion US dollars available for low-carbon manufacturing processes and green lead markets in emerging and developing countries. This supports a global balancing of conditions for competition in the industrial sectors and the transition to climate neutrality.
Finally, the international construction sector also presented its definitions for climate-friendly and environmentally friendly cement and concrete at COP 29. These definitions are intended to create transparency and trust in markets and to lay the foundations for green lead markets for construction materials. Construction materials are a key point of reference for companies, the public sector and private contractors that want to identify and purchase green cement and concrete globally. Find out more by clicking here (Link in German only).

^{Decisions for increased climate action and the global energy transition hindered by fossil fuel exporting countries}

A broad coalition was able to prevent the conference from falling behind the abovementioned goals for reduction that were agreed upon during COP 28. But concrete decisions for more climate action and for the global energy transition in negotiations were nonetheless stalled in negotiations by countries such as Saudi Arabia, which produce a great deal of fossil fuels.

The next Conference of the Parties will be held in Belem (Brazil). The period leading up to this is to be used to anchor specific measures to implement global climate targets and energy transition goals in the new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to be submitted in 2025.