Agreement on the New Collective Quanitifed Goal
Agreement on Article 6
Loss & Damage
More Ambitious NDCs
The Paris Agreement requires Parties to submit new NDCs every five years. Parties are due to publish their next set of NDCs by February 2025. These new NDCs must both take into account the findings of COP28’s First Global Stocktake and be more ambitious than those they are replacing. Deep emissions cuts are required to keep the 1.5°C limit within reach and therefore a successful COP29 would see large emitters, including the host, Azerbaijan, publishing NDCs with ambitious emission reduction targets and clear financial backing during the Conference, thereby setting the tone for other countries to follow suit. The urgency of increasing NDC ambition has yet again been illustrated by recent extreme weather events such as the recent hurricanes in Florida and the floods in Spain.
The Loss and Damage Fund, which will provide support to countries suffering from inevitable losses resulting from climate change, came into being at COP27 and progressed at COP28. The COP29 Presidency has called for significantly greater contributions of funds at COP29 and the full operationalising of the fund as soon as possible.
On 11 November 2024 the world’s eyes will turn to Baku and Clyde & Co will be on site, covering events in the Blue Zone and reporting on potential impacts to our clients and markets around the world. Look out for further articles and please reach out if you have any questions.
Allowing countries to trade “internationally transferable mitigation outcomes” (ITMOs), or carbon credits, under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is considered a key mechanism for persuading high-emitting countries to reduce GHG emissions whilst incentivising developing countries to prioritise low-emission energy sources and protect natural carbon sinks such as rainforests and mangroves. A successful COP would see the implementation of the rules around Article 6 first agreed at COP26 in 2021, an agreement on how to avoid double counting emissions, and a new, binding and high integrity carbon market coming into being.
As with previous conferences, climate finance remains a top priority. Neither developed or developing country Parties have been fully satisfied with the existing US$ 100bn climate finance commitment discussed above. Agreement on the NCQG should both radically increase the financial flows available to developing countries as well as ensure a rational and transparent governance structure that will ensure support from developed countries. The need is clear, with the cost of developing countries implementing their NDCs to 2030 estimated to be US$ 5.8tn.