Baku talks heat up: New climate finance deal, urban challenges in COP29 spotlight

This article is published in association with United Nations.

As intense round-the-clock COP29 climate talks enter their final stretch in Baku, delegates on Wednesday are eagerly awaiting updates on the progress of negotiations regarding a new climate finance target. Meanwhile, high-level discussions also continued, with a focus on key issues such as urbanization, transport, and tourism.

The source of the hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of funds that developing nations say will be needed to adapt to a fast-changing climate – governments, multilateral banks, or the private sector – has become a major subject of contention during the last eight days.

The good, the bad about cities

Meanwhile, away from the COP29 negotiations, the urgent need to cut emissions, adapt to a changing climate, lessen the effects of the crisis, and shield people from catastrophic weather events are among the themes in the many speeches given by government officials, heads of UN organizations, climate experts and leaders of civil society.

Home to half the world’s population, with some 2.4 billion more expected to move to urban areas within the next 20 years, cities contribute significantly to global emissions while also being disproportionately impacted the effects of climate change.

In its latest World Cities report, UN-Habitat, the UN agency dealing with human settlements and sustainable urban development, says billions of people currently living in cities could experience an additional temperature rise of at least 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2040.

At the same time, measures to offset the impact of climate change on urban populations still do not match the scale and intensity of the challenges faced by cities.

Addressing a ministerial meeting at COP29 today, Anaclaudia Rossbach, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, warned that rapid and unplanned urban development pose threats to biodiversity, the environment, and food security.

This also leads to social fragmentation and financial deterioration. While the construction sector accounts for 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, the UN-Habitat chief said 96 homes need to be built every day to meet the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

As such adequate funding and cooperation at all levels are necessary to address these twin challenges.

“There is only one road to pursue, one track, one we walk collectively where social, urban, and climate needs are addressed harmoniously over solid economic ground,” Ms. Rossbach stressed.

She added: “Yes, we do need more finance flowing to cities. We need to plan and prioritize. Land is scarce and needs to fulfill its social and ecological functions. Social and housing needs are vast.”

“We take care of people; people take care of the planet. And we should leave no one behind,” she concluded.

UNFCCC/Kiara Worth

Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, addresses a Ministerial meeting on urbanization and climate change, at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Emissions rising

In a separate session today, speakers noted an ongoing issue that could seriously hamper many efforts to address climate-driven impacts in cities, and elsewhere.

According to the latest report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), global emissions increased by 1.3 per cent in 2023 – when they should have decreased.

“To limit warming to 1.5°C, updated National Contributions – climate commitments that each country makes – should enable a 42 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.

She highlighted that 52 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from just 25 megacities, including, among others, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow, and New York City.

“This means the actions you take in setting standards for energy efficiency, determining energy sources, managing waste and methane emissions, improving public transport, encouraging electric mobility, and promoting pedestrian-friendly cities can make a massive impact,” she told mayors from around the world gathered at the event.

Tourism and climate change

For the first time ever the issue of tourism is being discussed at a COP, formally the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in the context of its impact on climate.

In 2023, the tourism sector recovered from the doldrums of the COVID-19 pandemic, as international arrivals rebounded to almost 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. That year, the sector contributed three per cent to the global gross domestic product (GDP), amounting to $3.3 trillion, and employed one in every ten people worldwide.

In an interview with UNifeed, Ms. Andersen reiterated her call on stakeholders at COP29 to make sure tourism industry lessens its carbon footprint.

“We need to understand that the tourism sector is impacted by climate change. And so, it is both a victim of and a contributor to climate change. That is why having this first tourism focus at a COP is very important.”

Renewable energy transition

Meanwhile, Selwyn Hart, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action, reminded attendees at COP29 that humanity already has the knowledge and tools needed to effectively combat climate change.

“A revolution in the transition to renewable energy is already underway. It cannot be stopped,” he said.

“However, the question remains whether the speed of this transition will prevent its worst consequences. And secondly, whether it will be fair enough to reduce inequality within and between countries.”

UNFCCC/Kiara Worth

Negotiating teams at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, pictured here during a break in the talks, are working to reach agreement on a new climate financing deal.

Will a breakthrough at COP29 be possible?

The results of the negotiations in Baku will provide answers to some of these questions.

The focus of the Baku talks is on agreeing a new climate finance goal that will provide countries – especially the most vulnerable – with the means to take stronger climate action. At stake are trillions of dollars that developing countries need to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

According to UNEP, Cedric Schuster, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), stated yesterday that the “top-level priority is minimum allocation floors for small island developing States of $39 billion a year, and $220 billion a year for least developed countries, both in grant-equivalent terms. Any [outcome] texts that do not include these aspects will not be acceptable for these groups.”

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Jiwoh Abdulai, emphasized the concern many developing countries share, namely, the form this money should take.

“Don’t use the word ‘donor,’” he said on Tuesday. “That implies charity. There is a climate debt that needs to be paid. We are talking about lives and livelihoods. Our people are paying with their lives.”

Discussions also touched on the very definition of a ‘developing country.’ Some negotiators have argued that countries like China or certain Gulf states no longer fall into this category, given the growth of their economies since the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992.

Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga, Director of the Division of Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress of the UNFCCC, noted that every delegation comes to COP29 with its aspirations and hopes.

“In multilateralism, the results are sometimes different from what any one country imagines. This underscores the importance of flexibility, cooperation, and the willingness to adapt to changing circumstances and international relations,” she said.

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