COP29 Dispatch

What Congress Needs to Know from Baku

Welcome! Today is the first day of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit at COP29.

About 100 world leaders are in Baku today and tomorrow to participate in the World Leaders Climate Action Summit. At the same time, negotiations are now fully underway, with dozens of meetings having taken place over the course of the day. Combined with the hundreds of other events, the COP29 venue is buzzing.

EESI is here to keep you in the loop. In addition to this newsletter, we are also introducing a new resource, COP29 Pulse Check: U.S. Priorities and the Path Forward. These livestreamed and recorded conversations will bring you the latest updates directly from U.S. officials on the ground in Baku. You can listen to our first conversation with Jane Nishida, acting deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, here.

EPA Acting Deputy Administrator Jane Nishida and EESI President Daniel Bresette live from Baku.

If you are in Baku, catch up with EESI President Daniel Bresette and Policy Director Anna McGinn! To connect, email Anna at [email protected].

Come visit us at Exhibit Booth 23 in Area B of the Blue Zone.

Missed yesterday’s edition? Check it out here. We are also compiling key COP29 announcements throughout the conference—check back for updates.

Confused by COP terminology and acronyms? Check out EESI's glossary of terms and other helpful guides in the Resources section! Looking for more information? Reach out to Anna at [email protected].

Key Takeaways for Congress

Dozens of negotiating sessions started today on issues ranging from agriculture and food security to several much-anticipated climate finance topics. (Negotiations)
Last night, countries agreed on international standards for a centralized carbon market and on a mechanism for updating the standards, thereby finalizing how Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement will be implemented. (Negotiations)
Stakeholders signed key agreements for the Loss and Damage Fund, a UN fund for responding to climate change harms in developing countries. (Around the World)

Negotiations

Inside the COP29 venue. Credit: UNFCCC via Flickr

Negotiations kick off: Dozens of negotiating sessions started today on issues ranging from agriculture and food security to several much-anticipated climate finance topics. For updates on the negotiations, see the Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s daily report (detailed summary) and highlights (quick overview) posted each evening of COP.

Article 6 updates: Panelists at a press conference hosted by the COP29 Presidency and UNFCCC remarked on progress made on Article 6.4 yesterday evening, when countries agreed on international standards for a centralized carbon market and on a mechanism for updating the standards. COP29 Lead Negotiator for Azerbaijan Yalchin Rafiyev and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell noted that the standards will direct resources to developing countries, save countries up to $250 billion per year when implementing national climate plans, and vastly accelerate climate plan implementation.
- EESI article: “Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: A New Age of Sustainable Trade”

U.S. Updates

Left: All quiet at the U.S. Center, about two hours before it was set to open to the world of attendees at COP29. Right: U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby speaks to a standing-room-only crowd at the opening of the U.S. Center. Credit: EESI

Keeping global methane promises: The United States, Azerbaijan, and China led a summit on reducing global methane and non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions, which are substantially more potent than carbon dioxide. Governments, multilateral development banks, and philanthropic groups took the opportunity to share progress towards methane goals and announce new pledges, including from the countries listed below. The State Department lists all updates and commitments from today’s methane summit here.
- United States | Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta announced the finalization of an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that will reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas sector.
- Azerbaijan | COP 29 President Mukhtar Babayev discussed the new COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste, which calls on the waste sector to reduce methane emissions by 2030.
- China | Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin discussed plans to cut national coalbed methane emissions from 30% of total coalbed emissions to 8%.
- Republic of Korea | Special Presidential Envoy for COP29 Hong Sik Cho announced Korea’s ASEAN-Korea Cooperation on Methane Mitigation Project to bolster methane reduction and monitoring in Southeast Asian countries.

U.S. Center pavilion opens: U.S. Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta and U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby welcomed visitors from around the world at a formal opening ceremony of the U.S. Center, a State Department-led hub for climate education and outreach. In his remarks, Podesta outlined six main U.S. objectives at COP29: addressing mitigation, implementing Article 6, agreeing to a new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG), updating nationally determined contributions (NDCs), reporting countries’ mitigation and adaptation progress, and tackling action agenda items such as non-carbon dioxide emission reductions.
- EESI briefing: What’s on the Table for the Negotiations

Subnational governments on the leading edge: California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot and Scotland’s Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy Minister for Climate Action Gillian Martin headlined a U.S. Center panel on cities, states, and regions. Subnational governments are critical drivers of climate action, and the willingness of cities to partner and share best practices was highlighted by both speakers. For example, Crowfoot described how California has learned about floating offshore wind from Scotland as the state moves toward deployment off the West Coast.
- EESI briefing: Cities Leading the Way on Nature-Based Solutions

Nitrous oxide assessment: At a U.S. Center event on reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, speakers released the UN Environment Programme’s Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment. The report, which was the first international report focused on N2O in a decade, found that it is the third most significant greenhouse gas, and the most significant ozone-depleting substance in current use. The report shares actions that can reduce anthropogenic N2O emissions by over 40% from 2020 levels by 2050. Effective abatement could avoid 20 million premature deaths by 2050.
- EESI briefing: Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases

Drilling for next-generation geothermal: The State Department and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy hosted an event at the U.S. Center to share technological advancements in geothermal energy. Skills and expertise previously used for fossil fuel extraction are now being leveraged for innovations in geothermal, making it a reliable, cost-competitive, and widely deployable form of renewable energy. Next-generation (or “enhanced”) geothermal techniques increase the resource’s potential from 45 gigawatts to 5,500 gigawatts in the United States.
- EESI briefing: Energy Earthshots: The Frontier of Climate Innovation

Shedding light: In a press conference on the role of religious institutions in combating climate change, American Geophysical Union President Reverend Lisa Graumlich emphasized religious communities’ capacity to shape climate responses through authority, moral imperative, education, modeling climate-smart behaviors and actions, and addressing climate grief. Graumlich highlighted the exemplary work of Interfaith Power and Light in helping congregations to reduce emissions from their buildings, performing energy audits, and bolstering capacity for climate advocacy.
- EESI article: “Transforming Communities Through Elective Pay for Nonprofits”
- EESI podcast: Energy Efficiency Brings Blessings to Delaware Houses of Faith

Around the World

Performance at the World Leaders Climate Action Summit. Credit: EESI

World Leaders Climate Action Summit opening: The summit opened today with speeches by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Maimunah Mohd Sharif. President Aliyev remarked that Azerbaijan is at the crossroads of the North and the South as well as the East and the West, positioning the nation well to serve as a bridge between different perspectives in the negotiations. However, Aliyev also made a number of pointed accusations towards the media and NGOs about their characterization of Azerbaijan and its oil and gas sector over the last year. These remarks were followed by a celebration of Azerbaijani culture including music, dance, and film drawing on themes of flora, air, water, earth, and energy.

Heads of state…ments: National leaders from almost 50 countries delivered formal statements to kick off the World Leaders Climate Action Summit. They shared progress on national climate goals, and many called for increased finance to vulnerable countries. Remarks included the following announcements:
- Belgium | Prime Minister Alexander De Croo pledged to double his country’s climate finance.
- Brazil | Vice President Geraldo Alckmin previewed Brazil’s NDC, which is expected to pledge 67% emission reductions by 2035 compared to 2005 levels.
- China | Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang stated that developed countries must lead in achieving emission reductions and that developing countries “need to do our best within our abilities” to do the same. He also highlighted China’s contributions to the global green transition through electric vehicle manufacturing.
- Spain | President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón lamented his country’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory, which recently killed 220 people and “would have been less likely and less intense without the effect of climate change.”
- Turkey | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared Turkey’s nomination to host COP31 in 2026, after delineating domestic achievements toward cap-and-trade legislation and in renewable energy production.
- United Kingdom | Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the country’s NDC, aligned with 1.5°C (2.7°F) goals, to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81%.

Loss and damage fund signed: Stakeholders signed key agreements for the Loss and Damage Fund, a UN fund for responding to climate change harms in developing countries. At the signing ceremony, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev declared that funding will flow in 2025. “This is an important win for vulnerable communities,” he said. “It is the result of years of work.”

Santiago Network making headway: Marking further progress on loss and damage, Santiago Network representatives and the joint hosts of its secretariat shared operationalization updates since COP28. The network seeks to address capacity gaps in developing nations by harnessing collaborative technical assistance to minimize climate change impacts that cannot be avoided through mitigation and adaptation. In March 2024, the advisory board held its first meeting in Geneva, which was then selected to become the network’s host city. Further progress in the lead-up to COP29 included launching a call for members of the network and appointing Carolina Fuentes Castellanos as its first director.
- EESI briefing: Climate Change Loss and Damage

Seeing the forest through the trees: According to the latest UN Environment Programme report, forests have the potential to keep warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) by contributing about 20% of needed greenhouse gas emission reductions. Yet efforts to conserve forests, which are worth up to $150 trillion, according to one estimate, are hamstrung by a lack of funding. International Union for Conservation of Nature President and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion Razan Al Mubarak and Republic of Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo opened a Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership panel on recent efforts to preserve and protect forests. Speakers emphasized the need for financing and private-sector engagement to reduce deforestation at a rate four times faster than current efforts. In advance of COP30, the future host country of Brazil announced the new billion-dollar Tropical Forest Finance Facility.

The right approach to climate and biodiversity: A Resilience Hub side event explored the importance of a human rights-based approach to addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. Speakers discussed why incorporating human rights in the global response to climate change and biodiversity loss is not only morally imperative, but also more effective strategically. Engagement with Indigenous communities, women, and other groups disproportionately harmed by climate change and biodiversity loss is critical for the creation of robust and practical solutions.
- EESI Article: “Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss: Twin Crises, Interconnected Solutions”

Down to business: COP29 UNFCCC High-level Champion Nigar Arpadarai announced an initiative to “climate-proof” small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and bolster them to help shape the green transition. So far, 35 collaborators with networks of 65 million SMEs have joined the campaign.

Climate standards intertwined: At a panel hosted by the World Wildlife Fund and the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) on upgrading corporate climate standards, panelists from several key standards organizations discussed how these standards work together and grow to meet changing needs. Almost 10,000 companies and financial institutions have set or committed to set science-based climate targets with the initiative.

Engaging climate migrants: At a side event highlighting how migrants and displaced people can shape the Loss and Damage Fund, Amy Pope, director general of the International Organization for Migration, highlighted that 2023 saw more people displaced by climate change than by conflict.

Resources

EESI resources

Briefing series: What Congress Needs to Know About COP29
- What's on the Table for the Negotiations?
- Methane Mitigation on the Global Stage
- U.S.-China Engagement and International Climate Diplomacy
Climate Change Solutions: Bi-weekly newsletter covering climate, energy, and environmental issues
COP29 Announcement Tracker: Key Announcements from the 2024 UN Climate Summit. Also, check out this article with updates on past COP announcements.
U.S. Leaders at COP29: Updates on Members of Congress and Other U.S. Officials at the 2024 UN Climate Summit
EESI's United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Glossary of Terms

Tracking the negotiations

CarbonBrief: Reporting and analysis on the UN climate talks, with in-depth tracking of country positions in the negotiations
COP29 Resource Hub: World Resources Institute's extensive set of resources on the climate negotiations
Earth Negotiations Bulletin: A play-by-play of the negotiations, plus expert analysis from the International Institute for Sustainable Development
ECO Newsletter: The climate advocate’s perspective from Climate Action Network International

Background and logistics

Azerbaijan COP29 presidency website: Priorities, details, and logistics for the negotiations from this year’s host country
UNFCCC COP29 website: Conference details and all updates on documents produced during the negotiations
Congressional Research Service: Reports related to the UNFCCC

Questions about COP29?

Reach out to EESI Policy Director Anna McGinn with your questions. We will get back to you or include the information in an upcoming newsletter.

Thanks for reading!

This newsletter covering COP29 will be running from November 8 - November 25.
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Staff contributors: Daniel Bresette, Molly Brind’Amour, Alison Davis, Amaury Laporte, Anna McGinn, and Nicole Pouy

About EESI

EESI is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing science-based solutions for climate change, energy, and environmental challenges to achieve a sustainable, resilient, and equitable world. Founded on a bipartisan basis by members of Congress, EESI has been informing policymakers about the benefits of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and environmental conservation since 1984.

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