COP29 makes some progress, but future COPs will now need to move faster
The COP29 UN climate conference concluded last week in Baku, Azerbaijan with a deal on climate finance and an agreement on a framework for carbon markets nearly a decade in the making. Meanwhile, there is continued contestation of other issues such as the transition away from fossil fuels. These results come amidst shadows cast by the recent US presidential election, geopolitical tensions and cost-of-living concerns.
COP29 resulted in mixed outcomes. Touted as the ‘Climate Finance COP’, COP29 delivered only a marginal increase in the climate finance goal for developing countries, and the final outcomes document omitted any mention of the “transition away from fossil fuels” agreed to at COP28, which disappointed many. On the positive side, for climate financing, a decision was finally adopted to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund, while other major outcomes included an agreement on a carbon markets framework—nearly a decade in the making—and calls for greater ambition from national greenhouse emission goals.
The outcomes at COP29 mean that the climate conference process, starting with the intersessionals in Bonn in early 2025, and the COP30 in Bélem, Brazil in November, will now need move faster and produce more ambitious goals to limit greenhouse gas emissions and keep global temperatures going above 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels.
ANU policy experts are holding a post-COP29 analysis event at 5pm this evening (28 November) to answer the question ‘What happened at COP29, and where to from here?’
COP29 a valuable arena for sharing climate policy research
Negotiation outcomes aside, COP29 demonstrates the unique and vital role these meetings are as a global platform for the world’s decision makers and experts to collaborate on positive change for the climate – including policy experts from ANU.
“COP meetings are the only way to get the world’s nations in the same room to hash out what to do about climate change”, as Howard Bamsey, Honorary Professor, ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance, says in an article published this week in The Conversation.
COPs are also important as venues for disseminating climate policy research. “COPs are like a giant trade fair for everything to do with climate action”, says Professor Frank Jotzo of ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy of ANU’s Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions.
“COPs are a really valuable opportunity to catch up with colleagues from all over the world, and to spread the word about all the policy analysis work we’ve been doing at ANU”, says Frank Jotzo.
Prof. Jotzo and Prof. Bamsey were both part of a team of academics and scholars from across ANU who attended COP29 in Baku, including George Carter, Fiona Beck, scholars from the Climate Alumni Leadership Program, and a group of scholars attending through the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate. ANU is among a select group of universities globally that have a presence at COP events.
One focus for ANU at COP29 was trade and climate, an increasingly debated topic as policymakers seek to design and implement trade policy compatible with rules-based and efficient trade, and the climate goals negotiated at COPs.
ANU co-hosted an official UNFCCC side event on trade, climate and development, headlined by US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and held in collaboration with US think tanks Resources for the Future and Center for American Progress, and India’s Shakti Foundation.
ANU also hosted an event on border carbon adjustment mechanisms featuring speakers from ANU, MIT, the AIGroup and the Australian Government, covering a range of topics, including Australia’s Carbon Leakage Review. Prof. Jotzo leads the Carbon Leakage Review and has been hosting international dialogues throughout its consultations. COP29 is an important opportunity to further discussions on strengthening policies for managing carbon leakage and bolstering climate ambition.
Another key topic for ANU at COP29 was Australia’s opportunity to leverage its abundance in renewable energy resources to help decarbonise the world. Australia is well positioned to become a large producer and exporter of renewables-based energy-intensive commodities. While this vision is familiar in Australia, thanks to research by the ANU Zero-Carbon Energy for Asia-Pacific initiative, it is still news to a global audience.
At COP29, ANU co-hosted an event with the Clean Energy Council to share Australia’s plan for decarbonising its heavy industries. The event featured speakers from ANU, Tsinghua University, UNSW and Rio Tinto, and was opened by Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Josh Wilson.
ANU also contributed to several side events including one on green mining by the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute, and another by the Energy Efficiency Council that drew out the need for greater innovation and research efforts to accelerate the transition to a renewables economy.
Read more about what our ANU academics think about COP29 with Prof. Howard Bamsey’s article in The Conversation, and Prof. Frank Jotzo’s interview with the ABC.
