The COP29 United Nations climate change summit
(Credit: ArtEvent ET)
The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP29 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 to 22 November, 2024.
A major area of focus at COP29 will be finance as it is hoped that a New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance will be agreed. This would set a new financial target to support developing countries in their climate actions.
In the lead up to, and during COP29, staff from the Grantham Research Institute will be taking part in events and publishing reports and articles related to topics under discussion at the summit.
Commentaries and news articles
Publications
Events
Explainers
Commentaries and news articles
Statement in response to COP29 outcome 24 November 2024
Joint statement by Amar Bhattacharya, Vera Songwe and Nicholas Stern, Co-Chairs of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance 22 November 2024
BBC World Service Newsday interview on climate finance with Camila Cristancho Duarte, (segment begins at 47:44) 22 November 2024
Why gender equality must be part of global climate finance reform initiatives 21 November 2024
If we can’t count the money, how can we measure the impact of international climate finance? 20 November 2024
Why engaging faith-based organisations at this year’s climate negotiations is important 15 November 2024
New report recommends COP29 negotiations on climate finance should focus on mobilising $1 trillion per year for developing countries by 2030 14 November 2024
Seven recommended reads on integrity in climate action 11 November 2024
Guest post: How to track progress towards the ‘global goal on adaptation’? (Carbon Brief) 7 October 2024
Azerbaijan’s short-lived all-male COP29 organising committee illustrates the ongoing struggle for inclusivity in climate action 29 January 2024
Publications
Raising ambition and accelerating delivery of climate finance
Amar Bhattacharya, Vera Songwe, Eleonore Soubeyran and Nicholas Stern
The State of Delivery: Progress Report of the Global Climate Finance Agenda
Amar Bhattacharya
Events
COP29 is being organised into themed days. Staff from LSE’s Grantham Research Institute will hosting, co-hosting or speaking at events during the course of the two weeks. Times quoted for these events will be local (Azerbaijan) time (GMT+4) unless otherwise stated.
Monday 11 November
Tuesday 12 November
Wednesday 13 November
Thursday 14 November
Friday 15 November
Saturday 16 November
Sunday 17 November
Monday 18 November
Tuesday 19 November
Wednesday 20 November
Thursday 21 November
Friday 22 November
Monday 11 November: COP29 Opening
| What impact have Climate Framework Laws in Ireland, New Zealand and Germany had, and what lessons can be drawn for other countries? 14:00-15:00, COP29 Parliamentary Pavilion (Blue Zone) Area E, Pavilion G22b This session explores how climate change laws impact countries. Based on a report on the lessons learnt from climate framework laws in Ireland, New Zealand and Germany. Alina Averchenkova will be speaking at this event Follow the livestream for this event here |
Tuesday 12 November: World Leaders Climate Action Summit
| Climate change, just transition, and labour force implications 10:00 – 11:00 in the ILO Just Transition Pavilion (in-person) and live streamed Heterogeneous climate change impacts have led to the uneven progress towards SDGs. This event responds to demand from governments and labour unions, lack of protections for workers, and concerns over potential mishandling of just transition strategies. An international panel of experts will discuss the implications of policies and investments that support a just transition to a low carbon economy, ensuring that workers and communities are not left behind in the shift to a more sustainable future. Speakers include Professor Elizabeth Robinson and Dr. Shouro Dasgupta Registration link |
Wednesday 13 November: World Leaders Climate Action Summit
| Food and health systems policies in a climate insecure world 14:00 – 15:00 in the Burkina Faso Pavilion (in-person) and live streamed To present new evidence on the impacts of climate change on health, food security, and nutrition that can be attributed to climate change, focusing on Burkina Faso and West Africa. An international panel of experts will discuss the implications of these findings for policies that can reduce food insecurity and undernutrition; and build resilience in lower-income countries. Participants include: Burkina Faso delegates, Professor Elizabeth Robinson (Grantham Research Institute, LSE), Dr. Shouro Dasgupta (Fondazione CMCC and Grantham Research Institute, LSE) A live stream for this event will be available here |
| Developing Global Norms on Transition Planning” in an event organised by World Business Council for Sustainable Development 16:00-17:00 in the Blue Zone, Standards Pavilion (B15) Carmen Nuzzo will be a speaker at this event. |
Thursday 14 November: Finance, Investment and Trade
| Empowering Ministries of Finance – Economic Analysis and Modelling to Drive Climate Leadership 09:30-11:00, Benelux Pavilion, Blue Zone (Zone E, G7) This event will showcase the work of the Helsinki Principle 4 (HP4) working group in advancing macroeconomic modeling tools for climate action. This session will spotlight the experiences of leading Finance Ministries and Institutional Partners to the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Actions, sharing how they leverage economic analysis to assess climate risks, mitigation, and adaptation measures, driving more informed policy choices. Co-led by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Danish Ministry of Finance, this event offers insights tailored for the policy making community and its eco-system—no technical expertise required! Whether you’re from a Finance Ministry, environmental department, civil society organization, or academia, join us to learn how economic modelling can empower Ministries of Finance to shape resilient, climate-oriented economic policies. Professor Lord Nicholas Stern will be a speaker at this event |
| Accelerating credible net-zero transitions: From Planning to Action 11:45– 13:00 in the Japan Pavilion (in person) and livestreamed on the OECD COP29 Virtual Pavilion In this event, organised jointly by the OECD and the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, panellists will discuss what is needed to accelerate the development of transition plans, progress to date, emerging challenges and how they could be solved or mitigated. During the discussion, policymakers, market participants and other stakeholders will share their best practices and challenges encountered and discuss ways to move forward. Speakers include Carmen Nuzzo, Executive Director, Transition Pathway Initiative Centre. Follow the livestream for this event here |
| EU climate policies and their impact on youth in developing countries: the case of CBAM in Mozambique 12:00-13:00 in the Blue Zone: Children and Youth Pavilion Antonina Scheer will be a speaker at this event. |
| Insight to Action: A Global Exchange on Strengthening Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Systems for Adaptation 13:00-15:00, Meeting Room 04, Zone C, Baku Stadium A mandated event on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) systems for all adaptation actions and support, including transformational adaptation under the Nairobi Work Programme. The event will be opened by a presentation from the IPCC about adaptation M&E in the Sixth Assessment Report and in the upcoming Seventh Assessment Report. Timo Leiter will present at this event on experiences with national adaptation M&E systems. |
| High-Level Dialogue on Just Transition Finance 14:00, SE2 COP29 Presidency Area Nick Robins will be making opening remarks and will also be moderating this event. |
| Last push for an ambitious and equitable NCQG that meets developing country needs 15.00-16:30, AZT, Side Event room 1 The Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance and many of its members will be at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan to share expertise and evidence advocating for the needs of climate vulnerable communities across the globe. The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is the new climate finance goal that will be agreed at COP29 and is the only item on the COP negotiations agenda that mandates an outcome this year. The question that remains is whether this goal will meet the growing needs of countries in the Global South. With very little time left to reach an agreement on the NCQG, this COP session will provide a space to bring together some key voices in this debate – including policymakers, NGOs, youth and thought leaders – to take stock of progress on the ongoing negotiations and provide a forum for exploring creative solutions to some of the remaining blocks. Swenja Surminski will be attending this event. |
| The natural capital of Congo Basin forests: a contribution to the fair deal discussion 15:00, Congo Basin Climate Commission Pavilion A presentation on What could be a “fair deal” for Congo Basin countries? will be given by Dr. Minette Nago at this event. |
| Financing the Just Transition Across the Global South 16:00-16:45, UAE Pavilion Nick Robins will be a speaker at this event. |
| Official UNFCCC side event: Governance, legal and finance innovations in just and equitable transitions 16:45-18:15 in Side event room 4 and online This event will explore how laws, finance and governance solutions can support a just transition in mitigation and adaptation. It will gather voices from around the world to discuss how low-carbon, climate resilient development can be designed with contextual nuance to address existing inequalities. Keynote address: Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter Parliamentary Union Panellists – Dr. Alina Averchenkova, Distinguished Policy Fellow, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, LSE – Jodi-Ann Wang, Global Policy Fellow, Just Transition Finance Lab, LSE – Victor Marcos, Director General of Energy Planning and Coordination, Secretary of State for Energy – Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge – Lara Lazaro,Senior Analyst, Royal Elcano Institute – Fredrick Ochieng Ouma, National Project Manager, ETF Reporting Project, State Department for Environment and Climate Change, Kenya – Maria Cristina Cifuentes Cifuentes, Leader of Negotiations for Just Transition, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia |
| ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Roundtable on Sustainable Finance 17:00-18:00 in the Blue Zone, Standards Pavilion Carmen Nuzzo will be a speaker at this event. |
Friday 15 November: Energy/Peace, Relief and Recovery
| From G20 to COP30: Advancing credible, robust and just transition plans and 1.5C aligned NDCs 11:15-12:15, Brazil Pavilion Nick Robins will be a speaker at this event. |
| Creating the Highway for Sustainable Finance, CASI Sustainability Forum for COP29 Part of the Financing for Low-GHG Transition session 12:20 – 13:20, UNEC Third Campus in Baku, UNEC 3rd Building, B1 floor, 194 Murtuza Mukhtarov, UNEC Third Campus As oil and gas exporters, Azerbaijan and many Central Asian and Eastern European countries are facing natural risks brought about by climate change and are in need of economic diversification and new growth drivers. For example, Azerbaijan has set national targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035 based on 2030 levels, and by 70% by 2050. Achieving these goals requires an estimated investment of $4.4 billion, a large portion of which should come from commercial and private sector financing. Blended finance plays a pivotal role in driving the decarbonization of key infrastructure projects, such as those in energy, transport and buildings. By combining public and private sector funding, blended finance mechanisms can leverage resources more effectively, unlocking investments for sustainable infrastructure development. Antonina Scheer will be a speaker at this event Further information or to register to attend this even please go here |
| Advancing Just Transition Through Innovative Policy Solutions 13:00-14:00, Spanish Pavilion Nick Robins will be a speaker at this event. |
| Interconnected Justice in the Just Transition: Unlocking the role of non-state actors (Co-hosted with the Taskforce on Net Zero Policy) 14:30-15:30, Just Transition (ILO) Pavilion Jodi-Ann Wang will be moderating this event and Nick Robins will be a speaker at it. |
| Advancing global accountability for corporate climate action Details of time and venue to be confirmed. This roundtable will bring together cross-sectoral experts from climate diplomacy, legal practice and academia to discuss how coordinated legal efforts—on matters such as disclosure standard-setting to transnational corporate climate litigation—might contribute to building greater corporate climate accountability for greenhouse gas emissions and the resultant damage to the environment and vulnerable communities. Joana Setzer will be a speaker at this event. |
Saturday 16 November: Science, Technology and Innovation/Digitalisation
| Re-Defining Climate Discourses: A More Effective Strategy for Engaging Grassroots Communities in Faith-Based Climate Diplomacy? 10:30 – 12:00, Faith Pavilion, Blue Zone This session will introduce a methodology for engaging faith communities more effectively in climate discussions. Drawing from research in the Middle East and North Africa region and Indonesia, it will also explore how religious narratives can reshape international climate diplomacy. Participants will learn how the LSE Religion and Global Society unit has incorporated scripture-based reasoning to build trust and foster productive engagement between policymakers and grassroots faith communities in its international work and have opportunities to reflect on the need for greater religious literacy in climate discourses. Speakers at this event will include Kristian Noll (Project Officer at LSE Religion and Global Society) and Revd Canon Prof James Walters (Director of the LSE Faith Centre). |
| Evaluating Sub-State Government Adaptation Strategies: Advancing Territorial Climate Justice 17:30 – 18:30, Spanish Pavilion, Blue Zone With the establishment of the Global Goal on Adaptation, the international community is increasingly focused on how to effectively measure adaptation efforts. This event will explore how subnational governments and key adaptation stakeholders are developing their own measurement systems to track progress. It will also examine how these stakeholders are improving their actions by monitoring their advancement toward climate justice. The government of Catalonia, along with other leading governments, will present their innovative system for Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluating (MRE) adaptation strategies. They will also showcase their Global Adaptation Indicator, which has evolved to meet growing demands for climate justice and inclusivity. These experiences are crucial in informing global processes to ensure that adaptation efforts reflect the local realities of vulnerable populations and those at risk of being left behind. Timo Leiter will be a speaker at this event, sharing his experience of co-leading the expert group that develops indicators for the adaptation targets under the framework of the Global Goal on Adaptation. |
Sunday 17 November: Rest Day and No Thematic Programming
| Breaking Barriers – Boosting Innovation and Capital for Heavy Sector Decarbonization 12:00-12:45, World Climate Impact Hub This session will showcase cutting-edge technologies and processes, as well as innovative financing models that promise to revolutionize hard-to-abate industries. This session is a call to action for all stakeholders to make decarbonization feasible and efficient as well as mobilize the substantial capital required to support the transition to low-carbon operations. In what ways can hydrogen serve as a key enabler for reducing emissions in these critical sectors? Antonina Scheer will be a speaker at this event |
Monday 18 November: Human Capital/Children and Youth/Health/Education
| Press briefing: World Benchmarking Alliance: Just Transition Indicators for Next-Gen NDCs 10:00-10:30, Press Conference 2 Area C (Press 2) Jodi-Ann Wang will be speaking at this event. |
| Insights from the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2024 12.00 – 13.00, Nasimi Amphitheatre (SPE 5), Blue Zone A webcast of this event will be made available. This UNEP side event features high-level opening remarks from the UNEP Executive Director, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary, and the Special Adviser to the UN Secretariat General on Climate Action and Just Transition, and a presentation of the key findings of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2024. This will be followed by a panel discussion focusing on the importance of closing the enormous adaptation finance gap, which is of relevance in the context of the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance, to be established during COP 29 in Baku. For the first time, this year’s report also assesses opportunities for enhancing capacity-building and technology transfer to improve the effectiveness of adaptation planning and implementation, which are only making slow progress. Moreover, the report reflects progress towards several of the targets laid out in the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience (UAE FGCR) that was agreed at COP 28 in Dubai. Timo Leiter will present the chapter he leads in the Adaptation Gap Report. |
| 30 years of adaptation – building on the past to get ready for the future 3:15-14:45, Blue zone, Room will be announced on CCTV On 21 March 1994, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force. This marked the beginning of coordinated global efforts to confront the challenge of climate change through the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement process. In turn, 2024 marks 30 years of this process. In recognition of this anniversary, the Adaptation Committee (AC) is issuing an updated publication that explores the evolution of adaptation in this process since 1994. At the same time, the AC will inaugurate its new Interactive Portal on the State of Adaptation Action by Parties, which showcases the adaptation progress that Parties to the Convention and the Paris Agreement have made to date and which will serve as a central hub for informing on global adaptation action over time. At this event, the AC will launch the publication and the new interactive portal and invite panelists and audience members to reflect on the past and future of adaptation in the UN Climate Change process. Timo Leiter will moderate this event (see Timo’s review of adaptation at the UN climate change negotiations since 2015) |
| Just Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean 14:30-15:30, Spain Pavilion Jodi-Ann Wang will be a speaker at this event. |
Tuesday 19 November : Food, Agriculture and Water
| Press briefing: Progressing a Just & Equitable Just Transition (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development event) 09:30-10:45, Joint MDB Pavilion, Blue Zone- COP29 Nick Robins will be a speaker at this event. |
| Insights from the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2024 12.00 – 13.00, The UN Azerbaijan Pavilion, Area E (number A11) This UNEP side event features a presentation of the key findings of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2024. This will be followed by a panel discussion focusing on the planning and implementation of adaptation. The report provides an in-depth discussion on climate finance and for the first time, also looks at capacity building and technology transfer as means of implementation without which adaptation finance cannot generate effective planning and implementation. The panel discussion will dive deeper into some of the novel findings of the planning and implementation chapters, in particular the quality of NAPs, alignment of NAPs and NDCs, implementation of NAPs, and current effectiveness of adaptation implementation as well as an assessment of urban adaptation action. Timo Leiter will be a panellist at this event. |
| What is next for the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience? 16:45 – 17:30, UAE Pavilion, Blue Zone The panel will reflect on what was achieved at COP28 UAE by the adoption of the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resillience. It will take stock of the progress of the technical work on indicators under the UAE-Belem Work Programme at its midpoint and will explore the technical & political opportunities & challenges lying ahead for the UAE Framework and the UAE-Belem Work Programme up to COP30 Belem and beyond. Timo Leiter will be a panelist at this event, sharing his experience of co-facilitating the workshops that led to the adoption of the GGA framework. |
Wednesday 20 November: Urbanisation/Transport/Tourism
Thursday 21 November: Nature and Biodiversity/Indigenous People/Gender Equality/Oceans and Coastal Zones
Friday 22 November: Final Negotiations
Explainers
- What are the UN ‘COP’ climate change conferences?
- What is the Paris Agreement?
- What is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)?
- What is the Global Stocktake?
- What is climate change adaptation?
- What is climate change ‘Loss and Damage’?
- How is China tackling climate change?
- What is meant by ‘climate justice’?
- What is the UN Biodiversity Conference?
- How is adaptation included within the international climate agenda?
- Why is climate change adaptation important for cities and how are they adapting?