Tag Archives: COP29

Disputed COP29 deal highlights deteriorating climate cooperation

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When COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev stepped up to the podium on Sunday morning at the closing session of the Baku Climate Summit, he had two speeches ready. According to sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, one speech was prepared in anticipation of a much-anticipated deal, while the other was prepared in case of a deadlock after the summit collapsed. It was seen as a contingency plan.

An official from the COP29 Presidency revealed that negotiations were tough until the last minute to secure the Baku breakthrough, but they were still preparing for various outcomes. The final speech was being crafted to address different possibilities.

Ultimately, without giving his detractors a chance to react, Babayev succeeded in pushing through a $300 billion funding plan to assist developing countries in handling the escalating costs of global warming over the next decade, earning praise for his efforts.

He lauded the agreement as a significant achievement and criticized skeptics, labeling them as “wrong,” along with many individuals targeted by the climate deal accused of being grossly inadequate.

The audience was already aware that Babayev was preparing for a mixed outcome at the divisive Baku summit, signaling that negotiations were unlikely to proceed smoothly.

Concerns about the imminent withdrawal of the United States from global climate cooperation, geopolitical tensions, and the surge of isolationist politics that have sidelined climate change in many nations’ priorities had lowered expectations for the deal.

An activist holds up a globe balloon during a protest at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 21.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Potential obstacles loomed large over Baku. The coming months will continue to cast a shadow over global efforts to address climate change as Brazil gears up to host a major conference next year in the Amazon rainforest city of Belem. The world will then embark on a multi-year plan for deeper emissions cuts and building climate resilience.

Trump Effect

One major factor clouding the negotiations in Baku was the impending return of Donald Trump as the President of the United States, the world’s largest economy, historically the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and a significant producer of oil and gas, who has been a climate change skeptic.

President Trump, due to take office again in January, had vowed to withdraw the US from the global Paris climate accord, repeating his stance from his previous term and dismissing climate change as a hoax.

Negotiators at the Baku conference noted that while the US delegation contributed to developing a climate finance agreement, the country was unable to play the high-profile leadership role seen in previous climate summits. Doubts persisted about the administration’s commitment to honoring the agreement.

“As far as the United States is concerned, the voters have spoken, and that’s where we stand. We are unsure of their intentions,” stated South Africa’s Environment Minister Dion George.

US officials attending COP29 tried to assure global partners that even if President Trump withdraws from the international process, market forces, federal subsidies, and state mandates will continue driving the deployment of renewable energy.

Furthermore, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East diverted global attention towards security and energy availability, compelling many governments to tighten their budgets, making it challenging to secure larger climate finance amounts, noted observers.

“Given the current political climate, maintaining climate finance at its current level is an uphill battle,” remarked Joe Thwaites, a senior adviser at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The pledged $300 billion annually by 2035 would theoretically triple the previous commitments of rich countries to provide $100 billion by 2020. Rich countries’ reluctance to offer further funding and the pressure to reach agreements amidst political turmoil disappointed least developed countries and small island states left out of negotiations at the Baku conference.

At one point during the summit’s final stages, the negotiating bloc representing these nations staged a walkout in protest, leading to a delay in reaching an agreement.

Representatives from Marshall Islands and India voiced their dissatisfaction with the climate finance deal, highlighting the reluctance of developed countries to fulfill their responsibilities, setting the stage for challenges at COP30 in Brazil.

“This could prove contentious in Belém. Brazil must find a way to rebuild trust,” remarked Oscar Soria, head of the Common Initiative focused on global financial reform.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

COP29: Satellite detects methane leaks but “super emitters” fail to address issue

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Methane plume at least 4.8 kilometers long pours into the atmosphere south of Tehran, Iran

NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology

The world now has more ways than ever to discover invisible methane emissions, which are so far responsible for a third of global warming. But methane “super emitters” take little action even when warned that they are leaking large amounts of the powerful greenhouse gas, according to a report released at the COP29 climate summit.

“We’re not seeing the transparency and urgency that we need,” he says. Manfredi Caltagirone director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, recently launched a system that uses satellite data to alert methane emitters of leaks.

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas to tackle after carbon dioxide, and more countries are pledging to reduce methane emissions to avoid short-term warming. At last year’s COP28 climate summit, many of the world’s largest oil and gas companies also pledged to “elimate” methane emissions from their operations.

Today, more and more satellites are beginning to detect methane leaks from the biggest sources of methane emissions, such as oil and gas infrastructure, coal mines, landfills, and agriculture. That data is critical to holding emitters accountable, he says. mark brownstein at the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental advocacy group that recently launched its own methane sensing satellite. “But data alone won’t solve the problem,” he says.

The first year of the UN’s Methane Alert System shows a huge gap between data and action. Over the past year, this program has 1225 alerts issued When we saw plumes of methane from oil and gas infrastructure large enough to be detected from space, we reported them to governments and companies. To date, emitters have taken steps to control these leaks only 15 times, reporting a response rate of about 1 percent.

There are many possible reasons for this, Caltagirone says. Although emissions from oil and gas infrastructure are widely considered to be the easiest to deal with, emitters may lack the technical or financial resources and some methane sources may be difficult to shut down. there is. “It’s plumbing. It’s not rocket science,” he says.

Another explanation may be that emitters are not yet accustomed to the new alarm system. However, other methane monitoring devices have reported similar lack of response. “Our success rate is not that good,” he says Jean-François Gauthier GHGSat is a Canadian company that has been issuing similar satellite alerts for many years. “About 2 or 3 percent.”

Methane super emitter plume detected in 2021

ESA/SRON

There are also some success stories. For example, the United Nations issued several warnings this year to the Algerian government about a source of methane that has been leaking continuously since at least 1999, and whose global warming impact is equivalent to driving 500,000 cars a year. It is said to be equivalent. By October, satellite data showed it had disappeared.

But the big picture shows that monitoring is not yet leading to emissions reductions. “Simply showing a plume of methane is not enough to take action,” he says. rob jackson at Stanford University in California. The central problem, he sees, is that satellites rarely reveal who owns leaky pipelines or methane-emitting wells, making accountability difficult.

Methane is a major topic of discussion at the COP29 conference currently being held in Baku, Azerbaijan. a summit At a meeting on non-CO2 greenhouse gases convened by the United States and China this week, each country announced several measures on methane emissions. That includes a U.S. fee on methane for oil and gas emitters, a rule many expect the incoming Trump administration to roll back.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

What can we expect in 2024 from moon missions to COP29?

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As we end 2023, what does 2024 have in store for us? As a wise person new scientist As our readers know, the division of time into years is fairly arbitrary, and only tells us that the Earth has gone around the sun once (yes, I get it. 0.256363004 days is fine. (No, please pipe up in the back). So many of this year's big topics, such as the rise of artificial intelligence and the growing dangers of climate change, will remain big topics next year.

But we can't help but give new meaning to the new year.

Source: www.newscientist.com