Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity, ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as peace and security. At the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), the European Union will support an effective, achievable and ambitious global target on climate finance and call for ambitious climate plans to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C within reach. This came in a European statement distributed in Brussels on the sidelines of the meetings of the environment ministers of the European Union countries in Luxembourg.
According to the European statement, the Council approved the conclusions that will serve as the common negotiating position of the European Union for the 29th Conference of the Parties, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024.
Implementation in Baku
The Council calls for an ambitious and balanced outcome for COP29 that:
Keeps the 1.5°C temperature target within reach, in the light of the best available science
Moves us all forward towards long-term resilience
Includes agreement on a new collective target that is effective, achievable and ambitious. The statement quoted the Hungarian Presidency of the Union as saying, "This ambitious and balanced text, based on consensus among the EU countries, will serve as a roadmap for the European Union to Baku. The European Union will continue to play a leading role in international efforts to limit global warming, calling for solidarity with vulnerable countries and communities in this collective fight. Because climate change spares no country, region or area." According to Anikó Ráiz, Hungarian State Secretary for Environment and Circular Economy
Climate finance and the new global target
The Council stresses the importance of agreeing on a new collective quantitative target on climate finance that is achievable and fit for purpose. The new target should be designed on the basis of a broad-based, transformative and multi-layered approach, including different financing streams and a wider range of contributors. This would reflect the development of each country’s economic capacities and the increase in their greenhouse gas emissions shares since the early 1990s.
In this context, the Council stresses that public finance alone cannot provide the levels of financing needed to achieve a climate-neutral and resilient global economy; private investment will have to provide the largest share of the investment needed in the green transition.
More ambitious NDCs
Limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires collective effort and more action by all countries, especially the major economies.
The Council therefore stresses that the next round of NDCs – climate plans to be submitted in 2025 – should reflect progress and the highest possible level of ambition, in line with the outcomes of last year’s COP stocktake.
These plans should include economy-wide targets and absolute emission reduction targets covering all greenhouse gases.
Mitigation and adaptation
In its conclusions, the Council stresses the importance of strengthening mitigation ambitions and implementing them expeditiously in this critical decade. It also calls on all Parties to make greater efforts to integrate climate change adaptation and resilience into existing relevant policies.
Looking back at last year’s COP stocktake, the Council stresses the need to build on all aspects of the stocktake decision and its implementation. The conclusions particularly emphasize the importance of the dialogue with the UAE to track collective progress, the work programme on mitigation to scale up mitigation ambitions, and the work programme on just transition pathways to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement in a fair and equitable manner for all.
The Council also reiterates the call for a just, orderly and equitable transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, and for accelerating action in this critical decade, to achieve net zero by 2050 in line with science.