COP29 Dispatch

What Congress Needs to Know from Baku

Welcome! Today is Friday, November 8. COP29 begins on Monday.

The United Nations climate summit (COP29) kicks off on November 11 and is slated to run through November 22. During that time, leaders and negotiators from around the world will gather in Baku, Azerbaijan, to navigate continued international implementation of the Paris Agreement to keep global average temperature rise well below 2°C (3.6°F). EESI and many other nonprofits, subnational government representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders will be on the ground, too, to bolster support for global climate action.

Over the next two weeks, EESI will bring you daily coverage of key happenings in and around COP29, with a specific focus on what Congress needs to know about the proceedings. We will highlight the COP presidency’s thematic days, updates from the negotiations, and key announcements. In today’s preview edition, we recap all of EESI’s COP29-related resources and share information that should help put the start of the climate summit in context.

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

Starting on Monday, November 11, come visit us at Exhibit Booth 23 in Area B of the Blue Zone.

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

COP29 will have a strong focus on international climate finance, specifically the new collective quantified goal on climate finance. (Negotiations)
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and 58 bipartisan legislators wrote a letter to encourage the State Department to urge the COP29 presidency, Azerbaijan, to rectify its record of human rights abuses. (Congress at COP29)
The State Department will lead U.S. engagement at COP29. To receive updates from them, sign up here. (U.S. Updates)

EESI's COP29 Resources

Live Events: EESI is hosting a side event with the Woodwell Climate Research Center about the role wildfire-related emissions play in the global carbon budget. Catch it live in Baku on November 19, or stream it online. Plus, EESI will host press conferences from Baku on November 15 and November 20 to update U.S. stakeholders on key COP29 happenings. These will also be livecast.

Briefings for Congress: EESI’s What Congress Needs to Know About COP29 briefing series, recorded on EESI’s website, provides key takeaways for Congressional staff on negotiation topics, methane mitigation, and United States-China engagement. Written summary notes will be posted soon.

Updates on Past Announcements: In this article, EESI shares updates on announcements made and programs launched at previous COPs—including the Energy Transition Accelerator and the Global Cooling Pledge—providing helpful information on next steps for these initiatives and pledges.

Resources on Other International Climate Action:
- Carbon Border Adjustment: EESI’s article on the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism dives into this ambitious carbon import fee, a strategy that could serve as a useful roadmap for other countries or regions seeking to reduce emissions.
- Green Climate Fund: This podcast about the Green Climate Fund explains the role of the fund in financing mitigation and adaptation across the globe, and the importance of U.S. leadership on issues of global climate finance.
- Atmospheric Monitoring: This podcast dives into how satellite monitoring can help provide key data on air quality, methane, and ozone, which can help countries meet climate goals.

Negotiations

Aerial view of Baku Stadium, the venue for COP29.
Credit: COP29 Presidency

COP29 agendas: Countries will formally adopt the five agendas for COP29 during the opening plenary on Monday. Right now, provisional agendas are available to detail what will be covered by this year’s negotiations. For more specifics, you can review the provisional agenda with annotations to see the documents related to each negotiating area.
- EESI briefing: What’s on the Table for the Negotiations

Preview of week one negotiations: During the first week of COP29, most of the negotiations will take place under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice. The chairs of these bodies released a joint note in advance of COP29 outlining substantive issues to be negotiated, as well as process guidelines.
- The best way to keep up with the details of the negotiations is the Earth Negotiations Bulletin. Check out their preview of what to expect at COP29.

Climate finance: COP29 will have a strong focus on international climate finance, specifically the new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG). Key questions that need to be answered include what the dollar goal will be, which countries or other entities will contribute, and which countries are eligible to receive funding. To learn more about why countries need to set a new climate finance goal, check out these explanations and analyses from Carbon Brief, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and the World Resources Institute.

NDCs 3.0: Under the Paris Agreement, countries committed to submitting nationally determined contributions (NDCs) every five years. The next round of NDCs are due in February 2025. All of these national climate commitments can be found in the NDC registry. Earlier this week, the UAE submitted its updated NDC.

COP29 presidency: Azerbaijan is hosting this year’s COP and serving as the presidency, a role that rotates between UN regions. The presidency helps facilitate the negotiations and shapes events surrounding the negotiations through the action agenda. This often includes determining thematic days and launching declarations. The Azerbaijan presidency has already launched nine declarations on issues ranging from energy storage and hydrogen to methane and resilient cities. Last year, the UAE hosted COP28 in Dubai.
- EESI article: Looking to COP29, Here’s Where Key Past COP Announcements Stand

Updates from the Secretariat: The UNFCCC Secretariat provides quarterly reports, with the most recent update published this week. The key issues discussed in the update include the NCQG, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on carbon markets, transparency and reporting on emission reductions and adaptation actions, NDCs 3.0, adaptation, gender equality, and the role of businesses in climate action.

Congress at COP29

Social media post shared at COP28 last year in Dubai. Pictured from left to right: Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.).
Credit: @ChrisCoons via X/Twitter

Statement Piece: As several members of Congress gear up to attend COP29, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and 58 bipartisan legislators wrote a letter encouraging the State Department to urge the COP29 presidency, Azerbaijan, to rectify its record of human rights abuses. The letter, released in October, also expressed support for U.S. cooperation with Armenia, including boosting Armenian clean energy development.

U.S. Updates

State Department at COP29: The State Department leads U.S. engagement on international climate diplomacy. To receive updates from the State Department over the course of COP29, sign up here. And if you will be in Baku and would like to receive relevant information for in-person engagement, sign up here. The U.S. Center will be hosting in-person and livestreamed events for the duration of the summit.

America Is All In: U.S. subnational governments and other stakeholders have a strong presence at COP. The America Is All In coalition will run programming from November 14-16 to feature their work. You can let the coalition know you will be on the ground at COP29 here.

Around the World

Group photo taken at Pre-COP29 in October.
Credit: COP29 Presidency

Mind the Gap: The United Nations Environment Programme released its 15th annual Emissions Gap Report (EGR) in October, ahead of COP29. The EGR is compiled by the world’s top climate scientists and compares global greenhouse gas emissions with milestones toward the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F). This year’s report finds that meeting these milestones will only be possible if the updated NDCs, due in 2025, deliver “unprecedented” emissions cuts.

Critical IRENA convening: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) convened on October 24 to discuss energy transition progress, following IRENA’s report finding that work toward renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency goals has been insufficient.

Climate Finance Progress Report: The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report on how the alignment of finance with climate goals can be assessed, understood, and improved to achieve net-zero emissions.

Designing Better NDCs: OECD released two papers, one covering how the first global stocktake's (GST’s) findings can inform future NDCs, and the other detailing how the first GST’s mitigation outcomes can play a key role in the NDCs.

Water, water, everywhere, but…: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization launched its second Drought Finance Tracker, an interactive tool that monitors country-by-country financing for drought management projects.

UN Biodiversity Conference: Delegates from around the world—including Azerbaijan’s COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev—gathered last month in Cali, Colombia, for the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This was the first CBD COP since the adoption of the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022. But high hopes fell short as world leaders departed without reaching a consensus on key agenda items like the creation of a new nature fund, and just 22% of the parties produced biodiversity plans to meet the targets from COP15. On a more positive note, the formation of a permanent body for Indigenous peoples will enable these communities to have a direct voice and an elevated platform at biodiversity COPs moving forward.

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
- The U.S.-China Engagement and International Climate Diplomacy
Climate Change Solutions: Bi-weekly newsletter covering climate, energy, and environmental issues
COP29 Announcement Tracker (coming soon): Key Announcements from the 2024 U.N. Climate Summit. Also, check out this article with updates on past COP announcements
U.S. Leaders at COP29 (coming soon): Updates on Members of Congress and Other U.S. Officials at the 2024 U.N. Climate Summit
EESI's United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Glossary of Terms

Tracking the negotiations

CarbonBrief: Reporting and analysis on the U.N. 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.
If you thought this newsletter was interesting, forward it to someone you know!
If you were forwarded this edition, sign up here.

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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