Raz Godelnik’s Post

Time to Rethink Climate Summits? The COP29 in Baku has ignited important conversations, not just about climate finance and emission cuts, but also about where and how we hold these summits. Despite 28 COPs to date, we’re still seeing rapid climate change. During COP1, global temperatures were only 0.4°C above pre-industrial levels. Today, they’ve soared, underscoring the urgent need for real action over prolonged negotiations. Leading voices like Ban Ki-moon and Mary Robinson are now questioning the effectiveness of the current COP structure. They’re calling for stricter criteria for host countries and a shift from negotiation to focused implementation. With fossil fuel lobbyists often outnumbering vulnerable communities, we need a fairer, more inclusive process. This is about climate justice, fiscal accountability, and ensuring that those most affected by climate change have a real voice. What are your thoughts? Is it time to evolve COP to make a real impact? #COP29 #ClimateChange #Sustainability #ClimateAction #GreenFinance https://lnkd.in/dBNA8ugv

As COP29 comes towards it end in Baku, increasing concerns about its effectiveness have surfaced. Despite some progress, notably in climate finance mechanisms and global solidarity levies aimed at supporting developing countries, leading climate policy experts argue that the process is becoming unfit for purpose. Influential figures, including Ban Ki-moon and Christiana Figueres, emphasize the need for reforms, such as hosting future COPs only in countries that demonstrate genuine support for climate action. The overwhelming presence of fossil fuel lobbyists further diminishes the conference's focus on the just transition needed to address the climate crisis. While proposals like the introduction of new levies and a push for fiscal justice show promise, the slow movement on key financial agreements indicates that significant changes are needed to ensure COP truly advances from negotiation to implementation. #ClimateAction #COP29 #SustainableFuture #ClimateJustice https://lnkd.in/e6mBvCvJ

To curtail the influence of Big Oil at UN climate talks, some leaders are calling for a conflict-of-interest policy. Would it work? "The fossil fuel industry and the petrostates have seized control of the COP process to an unhealthy degree," former U.S. vice president Al Gore observed during the recent UN Climate Change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. In this feature story, journalist Naomi Buck delves into the complex question of whether fossil fuel interests can or should be excluded from COP, similar to how the World Health Organization barred the tobacco industry from public-health policy discussions in 2008. “They call into question the legitimacy of the entire conference. They are granted pavilions, they’re given official space for their greenwashing," says Harjeet Singh, global engagement director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. Catherine Abreu, director of the International Climate Politics Hub at the European Climate Foundation, advocates for the conflict-of-interest policy, an idea that is gaining momentum and has been endorsed by the European commissioner for climate action. COP still has value, Abreu argues.  “It’s the only process that brings all countries together,” she says. “If we didn’t have this space, we’d have to create it. Is it perfect? No. We have to see what we can achieve through this process – and if it’s not functioning, how we can change it.” Read the fully story: https://lnkd.in/erfw-PXY

Cop summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’, say leading climate policy experts https://lnkd.in/d7tnbNxP A group of influential climate policy experts has called for future UN climate summits to be held in countries that support climate action and have stricter rules on fossil fuel lobbying. The group has written to the UN demanding a streamlined process of annual "conferences of the parties" under the UN framework convention on climate change, the parent treaty of the Paris agreement. The focus of Cop29 is to supply enough cash to poor countries to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate-driven extreme weather. The group believes that developed countries should provide a third of the funding by 2030, while most of the rest should come from the private sector. Some countries are also looking for new sources of finance to plug the gaps, such as charging cryptocurrencies, charging plastics production levies, a 2% wealth tax, or taxing frequent flyers and business class airline tickets.

At the third COP in a row being held in a country that is openly expanding fossil fuel production and does not respect human rights, the climate community is getting weary of having to deal with the fallout. There are growing calls to end the conflicts of interest that stand in the way of a green transition and dampen down the outcomes of the UN climate summits - from banning fossil fuel lobbyists to excluding countries that aren't phasing out coal, oil and gas from hosting the COP. More in the Climate Home News daily bulletin from Baku.

Midway through the COP29 climate summit in Baku last November, a number of prominent figures signed an open letter calling for “fundamental reform” of how COPs work. As currently structured, they said, COPs “simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale”. The COP process is clearly failing to take ambitious decisions commensurate with the urgency of the climate challenge, but all those concerned about the credibility, integrity, and effectiveness of international action on climate change need to be clear as to where the obstacles to strong decision-making lie. These are not primarily to do with organisational flaws in the COP process that minor reforms could address, but rather, with the blanket requirement for consensus decision-making and the obstruction resulting from it. Read more in this comment piece from Joanna Depledge.

COP 29 Reflection: Although I’m saddened by the outcome of the climate finance discussions at the just-concluded COP29—where we advocated for trillions, not billions, yet ended up with 300 billion—I remain hopeful. This moment is a reminder that the fight for climate justice doesn’t begin or end at COP. It continues in the policies we influence, the collaborations we build, and the actions we take every day to address the climate crisis. The scale of climate finance needed to secure a sustainable future for vulnerable communities is immense, and while the progress at COP29 may feel insufficient, it’s not the end of the road. It’s a call to action for us to push harder, innovate further, and demand accountability from those in power. The path to climate justice is long, but it’s one we must walk together. The work continues, and so does our determination to create a future where no one is left behind. 🌍 #COP29

This COP is already being reflected on as one of the most difficult in the history of the negotiations. So, what was agreed? And what does it mean for addressing the climate crisis and the work to come next year on the road to COP30 in Belém?

COPs has historically been a disappointment for many Pacific Islanders who have sacrificed their time, resource and energy. But they continue to power on each year because if they don’t than who will, if the Pacific is not represented than how will big emitters know the devastating impact that the climate crisis has on our people. I’m blessed to be here reporting at COP29 once again, and before the opening much more is happening on the background. #COP29 #Pacific #ClimateJustice #FinanceCOP Please find below my pre-COP story.