The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP29, concluded on November 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Here are the key takeaways from the conference:
- **Climate Finance**: A significant agreement was reached on climate finance, with developed nations pledging $300 billion annually in grants and low-interest loans to aid developing countries in their green transition and climate adaptation efforts. This triples the previous goal of $100 billion annually[3][4].
- **Fossil Fuel Concerns**: Despite last year's agreement at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels, there were concerns about "backsliding" during COP29 negotiations. Some leaders felt that the commitment to phase down fossil fuels was not reiterated strongly enough[3].
- **Global Carbon Market Framework**: Progress was made on establishing a global carbon market framework, allowing wealthy countries to buy carbon-cutting offsets from developing nations[3].
- **Trade Tensions**: Developing nations expressed concerns that trade barriers, such as the European Union's carbon border levy, could undermine climate efforts[3].
- **Environmental Issues**: Other environmental issues, such as plastic waste and the impact of climate change on hurricane wind speeds, were also highlighted during the conference[3].
The conference, which was attended by around 80,000 participants, emphasized the need for urgent action to cap global warming at 1.5°C. Despite some progress, many leaders and experts expressed concerns about the ability of the agreements to produce tangible change[1][3].