COP29: Everything you need to know about the UN climate meeting

The 29th annual UN climate summit, COP29, has started in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku.

Leaders from nearly 200 countries will discuss how to tackle the climate crisis from today until 22 November 2024.

President Nana Akufo-Addo arrived in Azerbaijan yesterday to attend the summit.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is COP?

COP stands for “Conference of the Parties” and is widely regarded as the world’s most important meeting on climate change.

Countries that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a multilateral treaty adopted in 1992, meet annually to measure progress and negotiate joint responses to fight climate change.

Ghana became a party to the UNFCCC in September 1995.

Since its entry into force in 1994, the UNFCCC has provided a basis for international climate negotiations, including agreements such as the Paris Agreement (2015), which aims to limit global warming to “well below” 2°C by the end of the century, and “pursue efforts” to keep warming within the safer limit of 1.5°C.

Who will participate at COP29?

More than 32’000 people have registered to attend this year’s summit. Among them are representatives from all 198 countries that have ratified the convention.

Notably absent, however, are the leaders of some of the world’s biggest economies and carbon emitters, including US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping. But their countries are still represented by officials in Baku.

There will also be diplomats, journalists, climate scientists, NGOs and Indigenous leaders will.

What’s on the agenda this year?

This year’s COP has been labelled the “climate finance COP”, because of its central focus: agreeing on how much money should go each year to helping developing countries cope with climate-related costs.

In 2009, at the Copenhagen Summit, developing countries were promised $100 billion a year in financial support to fight climate change. The funding was to start in 2020.

However, this target was not fully met until 2022.

Given the growing damage caused by global warming, these financial commitments are expected to increase in the coming years. By November 22, participants aim to set a new financial target to take effect from 2025.

As COP29 aims to set a higher funding target, wealthy nations insist that the money cannot come entirely from their budgets.

Another critical issue is determining which countries should contribute to climate finance. The United States and the European Union, for example, advocate for fast-developing nations like China and oil-producing states in the Middle East to share in the responsibility.

What is the position of African countries?

African countries are pushing for more climate finance. They remain concerned about the idling of the loss and damage fund following this year’s flooding in East Africa and fatal heatwaves in the Sahel.

African countries are also planning to challenge the decision to place the fund's technical assistance body in Geneva in Switzerland, objecting to the high-cost city being chosen over recommendations for Nairobi.

How did climate change affect the world this year?

According to the World Meteorological Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, 2024 is on track to be the warmest year on record after an extended period of exceptionally high monthly global mean temperatures.

In addition, ocean heat content in 2023 was the highest on record and preliminary data shows that 2024 has continued at a comparable level.

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