With 2024 on track to become the hottest year in recorded history, (1) the urgency for meaningful climate action has never been greater. This backdrop made this year’s COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, one of the most critical yet.

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Running from Monday, November 11th, to Friday, November 22nd, the summit brought together nearly 200 countries to address the pressing environmental challenges our world faces.

Finance Takes Center Stage at COP29: Key Agreements and Challenges

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This year’s discussions centred around one key issue: finance. That meant on the discussion table were topics such as:

• Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: Setting out guidelines for international carbon markets to drive cooperation on global emission reductions.

• The Loss and Damage Fund: Providing financial support to low-income nations for recovery from climate-related disasters.

• The $100 Billion Commitment: Raising funds to help climate-vulnerable countries adapt to the ongoing crisis. (2)

In an increasingly interconnected world, policymakers and the private sector were called upon to collaborate, seeking solutions that benefit both the environment and the private sector, with a focus on enhancing the global economy. (3)

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COP29 Outcomes: Progress on Climate Finance and Reporting

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Here are some of the major outcomes and plans agreed upon during the summit:

• Tripling Climate Finance: Countries agreed to triple annual funding to developing nations, increasing the target from $100 billion to $300 billion by 2035

• Scaling Up Investments: A unified effort was pledged to scale up total financing—combining public and private sources—to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.

• Transparent Climate Reporting: Building a stronger foundation for strengthening climate reporting going forward.

• Gender Equality and Climate Change: Emphasised and reaffirmed the importance of gender equality, and developed a new gender action plan to be put int effect at COP30. (4)

What does this mean?

Although significant steps were made at this years COP29, there were still many topics and opportunities that were missed at this years summit, such as nature funding, biodiversity, and the road to phasing out fossil fuels. (5) As the world continues to face the mounting impacts of climate change, the impact of summits like COP29 cannot be understated, as they are vital for driving global progress and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

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