COP29 has now drawn to a close, but governments still have “a mountain of work to do” to ensure the aims of the Paris Agreement are met, UN Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell has said.
In remarks to the COP29 Closing Plenary, Stiell described the new finance goal agreed in Baku as an “insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country. But like any insurance policy – it only works – if premiums are paid in full, and on time. Promises must be kept, to protect billions of lives.”
Climate finance
Building on the pledges made at COP28, where the world committed to tripling renewable energy, COP29 saw nations triple their commitments to climate finance, Stiell noted, saying that the agreement reached “will help finance real protections for those on the frontlines, especially the most vulnerable”.
Stiell also highlighted COP29’s global agreement on carbon markets after nearly a decade of negotiations, adding that “several previous COPs were not able to get this done”.
‘No time for victory laps’
At the same time, Stiell acknowledged that despite some positive steps being made, the path ahead to COP30 in Brazil next year remains challenging.
“This is no time for victory laps,” he said, adding that climate targets are still “a long way of course. Bold new climate plans on the way to Belém will be crucial to getting us back in the race.
“They must embed the targets we agreed in Dubai, including to rapidly ramp up renewables, transition away from fossil fuels, and transform societies, making them more resilient. Whole of economy, whole of society plans are crucial.”
While COP29 demonstrated the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement as a framework for cooperation, Stiell reminded participants that the world remains far from achieving the necessary emissions reductions to avoid catastrophic warming.
“Excellencies, friends, we still have a very long road ahead of us, but here in Baku we took another important step forward,” Stiell said. “The UN Paris Agreement is humanity’s life-raft; there is nothing else. So here in Baku and all of the countries represented here in the room, we are taking that journey forward together.” Read more here. [Photo: UN Climate Change]
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