This is my digital diary of Australia at COP29 in Baku. I will be following whats going on at in Baku online. Follow with me. I'll be updating this blog post regularly up to the end of November 2024.
President-Designate for COP 29 is Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources. Azerbaijan is a repressive state with a poor human rights record according to Human Rights Watch in leadup to a meeting in Bonn in June.
Australia will likely be represented at the ministerial level by Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen. See Tracking Australian Ministers and Australian pledges at COP29. Australia is lobbying to hold COP31 in 2026, and an announcement of host is likely in Baku. The city of Belem in Brazil is holding COP30 in 2025.
I'll be including detail from IISD Earth Negotiating Bulletin for each day. I might pluck details from the full report, especially relevant to Australia, and will post the 'In the Corridors" section which provides a concise 'vibe' summary on the negotiations. I might include details from other sources as needed.
Links: UNFCCC COP29 website for documents | Azerbaijan COP29 website | COP29 Climate Justice Coalition | DCCEEW international climate action page | Carbon Brief Negotiating Text Tracker | Fossil of the Day awards leader Board |
28 October - OXFAM report: Carbon inequality kills. Why curbing the excessive emissions of an elite few can create a sustainable planet for all. (Oxfam Report | Make Polluters Pay Petition | Guardian) Report reveals the stark reality of carbon inequality and its consequences for our planet. The analysis shows billionaires emit more carbon pollution in 90 minutes than the average person does in a lifetime. The richest 1% of the global population are responsible for more emissions than the poorest two-thirds of humanity combined. The consumption and the investments in fossil fuel corporations of the richest billionaires are driving the unsustainable levels of emissions we see today.
"Our research signals that climate breakdown cannot be avoided without reducing excessive wealth concentration among an elite few. We must take urgent action to dramatically change the consumption and investment habits of the richest people."
The richest 10% in Australia emitted 31% of national consumption emissions between 1990 and 2019. The emissions of the wealthiest 1% of Australians during that time are enough to cause $243bn in economic damage globally between 1990 and 2050. While Australia is experiencing some climate impacts, the loss of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) will be 5 times higher in the Pacific than in Australia.
28 October 2024 - Corporations using ‘ineffectual’ carbon offsets are slowing path to ‘real zero’, more than 60 climate scientists say. Pledge signed by experts from nine countries reflects concerns that offsets generated from forest-related projects may not have cut emissions. (The Guardian | Lethal Humidity Global Council) Note: the fallback for corporate emission reduction under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism is companies can 100% use carbon offsets (with questionable integrity) to meet targets.
28 October 2024 - Greenhouse gas levels surged to a new record in 2023, committing the planet to rising temperatures for many years to come. (World Meteorological Organization). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than any time experienced during human existence, rising by more than 10% in just two decades. (Guardian) "The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3-5 million years ago, when the temperature was 2-3°C warmer and sea level was 10-20 meters higher than now."
28 October 2024 - Pollutants from gas stoves kill 40,000 Europeans each year. Study says harmful gases linked to heart and lung disease shave nearly two years off a person’s life. Estimate is conservative as study only looked at impact of N2O emissions. (Guardian | Universitat Jaume I)
28 October 2024 - Miscarriages due to climate crisis a ‘blind spot’ in action plans. (Guardian) This comes from a report on 10 New Insights in Climate Science 2024/2025 (10insightsclimate.science):
- Methane levels are surging. Enforceable policies for emission reductions are essential. Methane levels have surged since 2006, driven primarily by human activities. We have enough information about our methane emissions to take action, but more enforceable policies to drive reductions are vital. While reductions in the fossil fuel and waste sectors are most feasible, addressing agricultural emissions is also critical.
- Reductions in air pollution have implications for mitigation and adaptation given complex aerosol-climate interactions. me events. Mitigation and adaptation strategies cannot afford to ignore aerosol climate interactions.
- Increasing heat is making more of the planet uninhabitable. Rising heat and humidity are pushing more people outside of habitable climatic conditions, with over 600 million already affected and many more at risk as warming continues. Heat action plans, early warning systems, and targeted measures for vulnerable groups are a priority for adaptation in the most affected regions.
- Climate extremes are harming maternal and reproductive well-being. Climate change is increasing risks for pregnant women, unborn children and infants, threatening decades of progress in maternal and reproductive health (MRH). These impacts are exacerbated in contexts with high levels of poverty and entrenched gender norms. Effective interventions should be integrated with broader efforts to advance gender equity and climate justice.
- Concerns about El NiƱo-Southern Oscillation and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with an increasingly warm ocean.
- Biocultural diversity can bolster the Amazon’s resilience against climate change.
- Critical infrastructure is increasingly exposed to climate hazards, with risk of cascading disruption across interconnected networks.
- New frameworks for climate-resilient development in cities provide decision-makers with ideas for unlocking co-benefits. Few cities have effectively integrated mitigation and adaptation strategies in their climate action plans.
- Closing governance gaps in the energy transition minerals global value chain is crucial for a just and equitable energy transition.
- Public’s acceptance of (or resistance to) climate policies crucially depends on perceptions of fairness.
28 October 2024 - SANTOS being sued in a groundbreaking case for greenwashing its climate targets. (Guardian) Case began in federal court today, brought by one of its own shareholders, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR). The organisation claims Santos did not have a proper basis for saying it had a clear pathway to reduce emissions by 26% to 30% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2040, which constituted misleading or deceptive conduct in breach of Australian corporate and consumer laws. Focus will also be on description of natural gas as a “clean fuel” and representations of blue hydrogen (produced using natural gas with carbon capture and storage) as “clean” and “zero emissions”.
26 October - At CHOGM the Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration for "One Resilient Common Future" adopted, calling on all 56 Commonwealth nations to protect and restore the ocean in the face of severe climate change, pollution and impacts related to over-exploitation. (The Commonwealth | Climate Citizen)
26 October 2024 - King Selling Australian Gas expansion in Japan while Prime Minister pacifies Island Nations facing Sea Level Rise existential threat (Climate Citizen)
25 October - UK-Australia Bilateral on sidelines of CHOGM: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met in person for the first time the UK Prime M inister Keir Starmer and agreed to step up cooperation on climate and energy. (PM Gov AU)
25 October 2024 - UNEP Emissions Gap report calls for immediate action (UNEP | Climate Citizen - Emissions Gap Report 2024: we are out of time, teetering on the edge of climate disaster)
25 October 2024 - Over 17,000 community members, including Traditional Owners, scientists, and healthcare professionals have called on APA at its AGM not to light the fuse on the Beetaloo carbon bomb. Will UniSuper do the same? Petition to UniSuper (Market Forces | MSN)