The UN climate conference, the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP28) is ocurring in Baku in the Azerbaijan from Monday November 11 to Friday November 22, 2024 (but may also go into overtime).
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 |
7 November 2024 - UN climate talks could undermine precaution on geoengineering called for by the biodiversity convention. (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung)
7 November 2024 - ‘Ecosystems are collapsing’: one of Australia’s longest rivers has lost more than half its water in one section, research shows (Guardian)
7 November 2024 - 2024 ‘virtually certain’ to be hottest on record, finds Copernicus Climate Change Service. Global temperatures for the past 12 months were 1.62C greater than the 1850-1900 average, when humanity started to burn vast volumes of coal, oil and gas. (Guardian)
6 November 2024 - Trump wins US presidency, plus Republican Senate and Likely the House of Reps. Carbon Brief did analysis in March what a Trump win would mean for US emissions: an extra 4bn tonnes by 2030 (Carbon Brief) This win comes after the devestation of North Carolina by Hurricane Helene, and with Nearly all of US states in drought conditions after summer of record heat. American Democratic Decay: Australia Must Find New Friends (Lyrebird Dreaming) Bill Hare from Climate Analytics did an Op-Ed: Donald Trump can’t stop global climate action. If we stick together, it’s the US that will lose out. How damaging this presidency is to the planet depends very much on how other countries react. There’s no time to waste (Guardian) Second Trump Presidency of climate denial will challenge global climate action response (Climate Citizen)
6 November 2024 - Japanese Government and banks resisting move away from coal. No Clear Exit: Japan’s resistance to a real coal phaseout. Japanese banks provided US$23.5 billion in coal finance between 2021 and 2023. (Reclaim Finance/Kiko Network)
4 November 2024 - Montreal Protocol continues to deliver on ozone reduction and climate (Climate Citizen)
4 November 2024 - Why did so many die in Spain? Because Europe still hasn’t accepted the realities of extreme weather. By climatologist Friederike Otto who founded World Weather Attribution (Guardian) Much of his argument could be directed to Australia and experience of floods, heatwaves and bushfires.
4 November 2024 - Legal experts say Trump could quit Paris pact – but leaving UNFCCC much harder (Climate Home News) Meanwhile, China urges US to hold the line on climate policy, regardless of election outcome (SCMP)
4 November 2024 - New Australian report on climate icreasing Insurance costs (Australia Institute)
3 November - Cop16 ends in disarray and indecision despite biodiversity breakthroughs (Guardian) Conservation summit agrees global levy on drugs from nature’s genetics and stronger indigenous representation, but developing nations furious at unmet funding promises. See also: Climate Citizen: Australia at Biological Diversity COP16 in Columbia
1 November 2024 - A second US exit could ‘cripple’ the Paris climate agreement, warns UN chief (Guardian) António Guterres says treaty will endure but urges US to remain amid reports that Trump plans to withdraw from the climate negotiating framework entirely. This election is America’s climate and energy fork in the road (Carbon Tracker)
1 November 2024 - NSW police take legal action to prevent climate activists blockading Port of Newcastle (Guardian) 91 civil society organisations have now signed a statement supporting the right to peaceful protest.
1 November 2024 - Gas companies export $36 billion of gas from Queensland, pay zero tax … again (Australia Institute)
1 November 2024 - Challenging the Systemic Under-pricing of Climate Damages Within the Global Financial System (Carbon Tracker) a report for Financial consultatnts, Super and Pension Funds to closely consider.
31 October 2024 - EU emissions fall by 8% in steep reduction reminiscent of Covid shutdown (Guardian) Decline over 2023, helped by switch to renewable power, means greenhouse gas pollution is now 37% below 1990 levels