The biggest climate negotiations, Conference of the Parties, COP29, under the United national Framework Convention on Climate change has ended in Baku, Azerbaijan. It ended as a big letdown and disappointment for countries in the global South, but also for a hope to see sufficient action on climate change, mitigation of the worse and worse consequences we experience in Uganda from climate change.
The big discussion of this year’s COP was the discussion on climate finance. The global North has a responsibility to pay money for mitigation and adaptation to the global South. The global North has contributed with far more historical emissions creating the consequences of the climate crisis. We, in Uganda and the global South have to suffer under these consequences.
Just last week we saw a big landslide in Bulambuli district that buried 45 households, killed at least 20 people and had 100+ people missing. The landslide were caused because of too heavy rain, as a consequence of changed weather patterns triggered by climate change.
This and many other disasters happening, is why the global South came to COP29 with the aim to raise 1.3tn dollars in climate finance to be able to handle these impacts sufficiently. Instead, the global South went home with an insufficient amount of 300m dollars. The global North is refusing to pay their climate debt, even though they are the countries which have contributed the most to creating the climate crisis.
Another huge letdown at COP29 was that the countries didn’t succeed to move forward on the pledge to transition away from fossil fuels. Oil, gas and coal are the main drivers of climate change, so omitting this problem is letting the climate crisis accelerate to an uncontrollable level. With the COP outcome we must wait yet another year for any advances, which is a major disappointment. We now need individual countries to step up and declare in their upcoming climate plans, that they will ensure a just and rapid phase-out of fossil fuels.
But why are COP’s so often disappointing and insufficient instead of showing global action on climate change, as was their initial role?
412 delegates participated from Uganda, ranked as number 15 for countries with the most delegates, and Africa came to COP with a united voice. But even though there was a strong participation from Uganda and Africa at COP, I think the main problem of why COPs are failing is that the global North countries are not taking their responsibility seriously. They refuse to pay their climate debt and this is unacceptable to the Global South. This creates the deadlock in the COP process, which oil states exploit to remove any advances on climate mitigation and a fossil fuel phase out. The fundamental key to solve this is the Global North stepping up and showing will and action to solve this devastating crisis.
Another central problem delaying climate action at COP’s is the big number of fossil fuel lobbyists attending. These fossil fuel interests are diluting the purpose of the COP as they pursue their interest in delaying climate action and disrupting the energy transition. This year there were 1773 fossil fuel lobbyists present at COP29. Fossil fuel lobbyists even received more passes than all delegates from the 10 most vulnerable countries together. This showcases to me a clear problem of representation at COP. We should listen to those whose lives and countries are being taken away by the climate crisis, and not those who make a profit from it.
It is clear that it is the political and commercial interest of the Global North and oil states that take up the most space at the COP. The scientific institutions, indigenous communities and activists are scraping for passes to enter the COP and if they are lucky to get in, it is still big commercial interest who set the agenda and buy the pavilions. This year we also saw that the delegations from Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) walked out of a climate talk at COP29, because they didn’t feel listened to in regards to climate finance. To me, this showcases pretty clearly that the room even for the vulnerable nations’ formal delegations at COP is way too limited.
Many people have described COP29 as a failure and I agree with that. The gap of 1 trillion dollars in climate finance from the global North to the global South is not in any way adequate. There was also limited progress on ensuring sustainability goals like equitable energy transitions and instead the COP adopted a scheme of carbon-credits which can easily be exploited for speculation and fraud. This is all highly inadequate compared to the daunting and growing crisis we face.
But should the COP’s then just get canceled and individual countries will figure out themselves? I think that COP still has a justification for existence, but big reforms are needed. A reform could include limiting or banning the influence and participation of lobbyists, introducing mechanisms for greater transparency and binding targets, and ensuring equitable decision-making. Also expanding platforms for Indigenous communities, grassroots activists, and scientific bodies would help center the voices of those most affected by climate change while grounding discussions in evidence-based solutions. If this is not adequate, counter-COP’s, where new solutions are put on the table, could be another solution.
All countries need to take on greater responsibility and truly heighten the ambitions in their upcoming plans for adaptation, finance and mitigation which are due by next year. This is extremely important if COP’s again should be a place, where countries come together and do all they can to stop the climate crisis from accelerating further.
Samuel Okulony
Chief Executive Officer
Environment Governance Institute (EGI)
