QUNO report on COP29
QUNO distributed its latest climate paper at the COP29 summit
Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) distributed its latest climate paper at the COP29 summit, which ended earlier this week.
Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) distributed its latest climate paper at the COP29 summit, which ended earlier this week.
The briefing paper ‘Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): What is sustainable and just?’ addresses physical and equity limits to CDR, and its failure to transform the root causes driving climate change. Written by Olaf Corry and Duncan McLaren, the paper was ‘well-received’ and ‘sparked engaging conversation on one of the major topics on the delegates’ agenda’, QUNO said in a report on its website.
The conference in Azerbaijan ended early on 24 November when negotiators agreed to triple the flow of climate finance to poorer countries. The pledge of US$300 billion a year in funds was to help them shift to a low-carbon economy and cope with the impacts of extreme weather by 2035. However the US$1.3 trillion developing countries had asked for was only cited as a target, with money to come from private investors and potential new money sources, not yet agreed. Green campaigners and developing countries branded this a ‘betrayal’ and said it was way short of what was necessary.
Overall, the negotiations did not advance productively, QUNO said. ‘Deep polarization on a range of topics remains, most centrally over the new collective quantified goal on climate finance… Negotiations over the inclusion of language on gender and human rights, just transition, mitigation, and contentious carbon markets have also been heated and found little common ground. Such breakdowns are particularly concerning as, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have “a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all”.’
There was also strong criticism of the host country for the high visibility of fossil-fuel interests at the talks.
Members of QUNO’s Geneva’s Human Impacts of Climate Change Programme were active throughout both weeks ‘following negotiations, distributing publications, coordinating with human rights and peace constituencies… and participating in inter-faith dialogue and discussion’. Lindsey Fielder Cook and Johan Cavert represented QUNO during negotiations.
QUNO also hosted a side event during the summit exploring ‘how inclusive climate finance in conflict-affected regions can accelerate the Paris Agreement progress’.
