We’re at COP29, the UN climate summit
On Monday, representatives from nearly 200 nations and more than 3,000 NGOs — including our own Chief Operating Officer Barry Vesser — arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan for COP29, the annual United Nations climate change conference. The COP, or Conference of the Parties, brings together the nations of the world to address the climate crisis. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, the event is being held in a petrostate and a top COP official tried to use the event to broker fossil fuel deals.
This is The Climate Center’s fourth year as an official observer organization at COP, providing the unique platform to highlight California’s climate leadership on the global stage, strengthen relationships with state policymakers, and glean ideas from around the world to bring back home.
In Azerbaijan, Barry is showcasing the ways we’ve helped California lead on climate, including advancing bidirectional electric vehicle charging for affordability, resilience, and reliability. Barry also moderated an official UN side event focused on the responsible deployment of carbon dioxide removal with global partners.
At COP21 in 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted by almost every country in the world. This legally binding international treaty was intended to limit global heating to “well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” But nations are way off track to meet that goal and President-elect Trump has promised to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement after he takes office.
Last year at COP28, nearly 200 countries approved a global pact that calls for “deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 degrees Celsius pathways” and “transitioning away from fossil fuels.”
This year, COP29’s stated priorities include slashing climate pollution, building resilient communities, securing a new climate finance goal, and ensuring every country can accelerate climate action. It remains to be seen if progress can be made under the huge influence of Big Oil and without the climate leadership of the United States.
All this makes our collaborative climate policy efforts here in California more urgent than ever. With your support and engagement, we will continue to advance accelerated, equitable climate policy. As goes California, so goes the world!
This blog first appeared in The Climate Center’s bi-weekly newsletter. To keep up with the latest climate news and ways to take action for a climate-safe future, subscribe today!
