Pressure on ministers to break Cop29 deadlock as UN climate talks enter week two

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday to join other government ministers for talks to reach a new global commitment on finance for poor countries to cope with climate change impacts and green their economies.

Wealthy countries previously pledged 100 billion US dollars (£79 billion) a year in private and public finance to help poorer nations, but agreed that a new deal on climate finance should be set before 2025.

As nations now hammer out those details at Cop29, experts said a total of one trillion US dollars (£790 billion) needs to be flowing into developing countries each year by 2030, bar China, to meet the Paris Agreement goals.

But the first week of these negotiations saw limited progress and hit walls in talks on adaptation, cutting emissions and keeping previous commitments on track.

Speaking at Cop29 on Monday, Mark Lutes, WWF Senior Adviser, Global Climate Policy, said: “Last week was a very tough week.”

Mr Lutes said discussions stalled as negotiators likely stuck to their given mandates amid “very difficult political issues”.

“It’s the ministers who always resolve these difficult issues,” he said.

“It’s the ministers who can go to those red lines and in some cases, I’m sure in this case, some will have to beyond their red lines to get an agreement.”

UN climate head Simon Stiell later urged the summit to “wrap up less contentious issues” as early as possible in the coming days to enable enough time for the major political decision.

He said: “We can’t lose sight of the forest because we’re tussling over individual trees. Nor can we afford an outbreak of ‘you-first-ism’.

“We will only get the job done if parties are prepared to step forward in parallel, bringing us closer to common ground.”

Mr Stiell also called out “bluffing, brinksmanship and pre-mediated playbooks” that burn up time and stymie the goodwill needed to get to an ambitious deal.

“Let’s cut the theatrics and get down to real business,” he said.

Attention will also be focused on world leaders at the G20 summit, which kicked off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, bringing hope that the world’s biggest economies can signal a consensus on climate finance to spur on the stalled process at Cop29.

“They can send positive political signals that can help the progress here,” Mr Lutes said.

Other negotiation sticking points at Cop29 include progress and action on last year’s agreement to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, and how this is reflected in individual countries’ national climate action plans (NDCs).

Shirley Matheson, WWF Global NDC Enhancement Lead, said: “There’s a lot of frustration in the room. There’s a lot of anxiety.

“There’s a need for parties to really get together and work through this.”

With the difficult negotiations in Baku, confidence in the multilateral Cop process started to waver over the last few days, with high-profile figures saying it is no longer fit for purpose.

The group of prominent scientists, advocates and policy experts, including former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and former executive secretary of UN Climate (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres said countries that do not support the phase out of fossil fuels in energy systems should not host future UN climate summits.

Concerns are also growing that Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory could cause a wave of countries to follow suit and pull out of the climate agreement, starting with Argentina, which pulled its delegation from the summit last week.

Questioned on whether this could have an impact on talks this week, Mr Lutes said there is “no doubt that we’re facing headwinds” in the response to global warming.

“But I think we’ve also seen signs that the vast majority of countries in the world are committed to continuing to fight against climate change,” he said.

“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a wild ride this week, and as they say, failure is not an option.”