The 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will run from Monday 11 November to Saturday 22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event is a crucial opportunity to accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis. Global temperatures have reached record highs and extreme weather events are impacting people around the world.
The 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will run from Monday 11 November to 22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan. COP29 will bring together leaders from governments, business and civil society to advance concrete solutions to climate change. Its focus will be on finance, as countries around the world need trillions of dollars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect lives and livelihoods from the worsening impact of climate change.
Key moment to present national climate action plans
This conference will also be a key moment for countries to present their updated national climate action plans under the Paris Agreement, which are to be submitted by early 2025. If implemented properly, these plans will bring global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.
First meeting of COP
The first meeting of COP was held in March 1995 in Berlin, Germany. COP or Conference of the Parties is a conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Parties are the countries that signed the UN Climate Agreement in 1992.
What are carbon offsets?
Carbon offset credit is a certificate for reduction in carbon emissions. Some governments and companies are unable to directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet their climate goals. In such a situation, through carbon offset credit, one can pay for projects elsewhere that reduce emissions by taking measures such as installing solar panels, planting trees.
Meaning of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement
In 2015, 200 countries approved the Paris Agreement to keep the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius and to keep the increase in the earth’s temperature within the range of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Article 6 of the agreement is considered an important mechanism for providing climate finance to developing countries. This article of the agreement helps countries work together to reduce their carbon emissions.
Article 6.2: Allows to set conditions for trading carbon offsets directly between two countries.
Article 6.4: A central system managed by the United Nations is created, which allows countries and companies to buy and sell carbon offsets. Its purpose is to make offset trading more standardized and accessible to all.
What has been decided so far…
At the COP-26 conference held in Glasgow, UK in 2021, countries agreed on common rules for trading carbon credits. After this, regarding the 2022 COP-27, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that all countries need to make extra efforts for the climate crisis. Even after two weeks of talks at the 2023 COP-28 in Dubai, the countries of the world could not agree on the necessary rules that are needed to establish a central system and make clear rules for countries doing direct trading.
Main issue…what will be the decisions
The main issue in COP-29 is the buying and selling of carbon credits of countries, for this the focus will be on agreeing on Article 6 soon.
The main objective is to reach an agreement on the guardrails (protective measures) of bilateral agreements. This will enable the implementation of a UN-backed central market. In this, some countries trade carbon credits directly with each other.
Some countries want the credits to be checked internationally so that their quality can be confirmed.
The UN wants to create a market where countries can buy and sell carbon credits. The UN has prepared a basic quality standard for this. If consensus is reached, this new trading system can start by 2025.
Voluntary carbon market…
In the voluntary carbon market system, companies that are not legally bound to reduce emissions can also buy carbon credits so that they can meet their climate goals. In 2022, the global value of this market was $2 billion. Last year it fell to $723 million. Where carbon projects are linked to the UN Paris Agreement system, this can increase market confidence. Once approved by the UN, these credits can be sold within the UN system or on the voluntary market.