Azerbaijan officially unveiled the logo for the upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) during a press conference in Baku on Monday. Rich in cultural and ecological symbolism, the logo features a buta – a traditional Azerbaijani design – alongside motifs representing leaves and water droplets.

Narmin Jarchalová, president of the COP29 operating company and director of operations, explained the deep symbolism of the logo design. (More on caspiannews.com)

At the COP28 conference at the end of last year, regeneration appeared in the center of attention of business leaders. Regenerative businesses aim to improve ecosystems and communities, not simply minimize their damage. No wonder it's a hot topic – the science is screaming at us that the path we're on isn't good enough to prevent further catastrophic effects of climate change. According to the Stockholm Resilience Center, we have already crossed six of the nine planetary boundaries, "processes that are critical to maintaining the stability and resilience of the Earth [system] as a whole." (according to Char Love, Caitlin McElroy, Roberta Roesler, Eva Fraser, more at hbr.org)

Costa Rican diplomat and former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres writes for the New Statesman that the next UN climate summit, COP29, must uphold the ambition of the Paris Agreement to keep temperatures at 1.5°C. He writes: “As Azerbaijan takes the helm of climate action this year, its President Ilham Aliyev must know that the main driver of this temperature increase is the historic and ongoing burning of fossil fuels. Emissions reached a record level in 2023. year, the world cannot afford another peak. Baku has a lot to understand. Over the next seven months, he faces some tough challenges. How will it bring countries together to accelerate the global transition to renewable energy? What will it do to help unblock the flow of public and private finance that is urgently needed for vulnerable countries? What is the attitude towards the adaptation measures that need to be put in place to mitigate the worst impacts? Organizing the COP is a huge opportunity. The world will watch how Baku moves.” (Christiana Figueres, carbonbrief, more at newstatesman.com)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday stressed the need to fight global warming, calling climate change a "crisis multiplier" with implications for global security.

He said this at a press conference in Baku alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, whose energy-rich country is set to host the COP29 UN climate change conference in November.

Praising Azerbaijan for its "important role in supplying (natural) gas to key NATO allies," Stoltenberg said "the challenge is that the world needs energy, but at the same time we have to fight global warming." (Agence France-Presse, More at philstar.com)

The training on "Sustainable development and climate change from the perspective of the media" as part of a series of trainings for journalists who will actively participate in reporting on COP29 took place on March 13, 2024, jointly organized by the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (MEDIA) and the Institute of Development and Diplomacy of ADA University. The goal of the training was to equip English-speaking journalists with the necessary skills to effectively cover the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). (Ulviyya Shahin, more at www.azernews.az)

Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's president-designate for the upcoming COP29 climate summit and minister for ecology and natural resources, writes in the Guardian that "restoring trust between developed and developing countries is essential if our goals are to be achieved." He writes: “We must definitively break the suspension of the COP agreements in order to proceed from one to the other. It started last month with the launch of the 'Trio of COP Presidencies', ensuring that Azerbaijan will be the bridge in decision-making and implementation from hosting the 28th summit in the United Arab Emirates to the 30th in Brazil next year. This ongoing mechanism will ensure that the summits themselves move from preparing major announcements to a platform for continuity through monitoring and implementation. that a bridge is being created between the industrialized and the developing world." Babayev says trust between developed and developing countries can be restored "by setting a new climate finance target, which will then be reaffirmed through the next two COPs and later through the troika mechanism." He adds that the target "must reflect the scale and urgency of the climate challenge and, just as importantly, quickly release these funds to the nations that need them most." Diary Guardian reported a warning from Babayev that "the governments that take power after this year's elections around the world will have the same climate commitments as their predecessors". (Carbonbrief,  Mukhtar Babayev, The Guardian)

I don't know many people who take the annual Conference of the Parties, the UN Climate Change Conference, the conventions seriously. Toward the end of each year, I eagerly tune in to see the COP President deliver his closing remarks outlining all the climate goals that took a lot of shiny suits and private jets to create.  And I'm certainly disappointed every year at the absolute lack of productivity in the result.

Hosted by member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, these meetings are expected to draw more than 70,000 delegates, business leaders, climate scientists, indigenous peoples, journalists, experts and stakeholders who will come together to legally they solved the biggest crisis of our country. time . Unfortunately, they have become the object of ridicule or, at best, indifference, and it's easy to see why. (Kaashvi Ahuja).

The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) set the stage for stepped-up climate action in Europe, with the European Union (EU) strategizing its approach for the upcoming COP29 and COP30. The EU's commitment to become climate neutral by 2050 is the driving force behind its ambitious climate change agenda, which is in line with the global goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. However, there is more to the EU's vision than just environmental considerations. The concurrent focus on social security coordination regulations reflects the EU's broader commitment to improving cooperation and welfare among its member states.

COP28: A catalyst for change

At the COP28 conference held in Dubai, world leaders agreed to initiate the phase-out of fossil fuels under the United Arab Emirates Consensus. This historic agreement also included a tripling of renewable energy capacity and reductions in methane and other non-CO2 gases. The conference saw unprecedented participation from the private sector, signaling a collective, global response to the climate crisis. (Justice Nwafor)

Since the consequences of climate change are already being felt all over the world, measures to mitigate climate change, although important, may not be enough. More than ever, the same attention needs to be paid adaptation to climate change - to protect and ensure the long-term resilience of communities and ecosystems that are sensitive to the effects of a changed climate. Although this adaptation is central to the 2015 Paris Agreement, adaptation has not received much attention at subsequent COPs. Then, with the two-year work program introduced at COP26 to stimulate momentum around the global adaptation goal ((GGA) Article 7 of the Paris Agreement), all eyes were on COP28. But the eagerly awaited GGA framework adopted at COP28 is something of a mixed bag. While the final text signals a global consensus on adaptation commitments, the absence of specific time-bound targets and financial indicators raises practical questions about the implementation of the framework. The bottom line is that there is some way to make progress, especially on funding for adaptation, one of the main issues in the GGA framework discussions. At the very least, international momentum has been renewed, and with analysis suggesting growing market opportunities for adaptation finance, it may even be the private sector driving this momentum forward (see also our article on blended finance ). (Joanne Holbrook, Silke Goldberg, Jannis Bille, lexology.com)

The legacy of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai depends on the success of the new international fund, which was announced with great fanfare on the very first day of the conference. The stakes could hardly be higher: The so-called loss and damage fund is considered an essential resource for the survival of countries most affected by the 1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming that has already occurred. The Loss and Damages Agreement is a different kind of climate fund: The money is not intended to help climate-sensitive countries mitigate their emissions or plan adaptation projects like sea walls or water reservoirs. Instead, it's meant to help them pay for damage that's already been caused by a specific climate-related incident, such as a storm, flood, heat wave or other extreme weather event. The fund is primarily intended for use by relatively poor developing countries in the Global South for two related reasons. The first is that these are the kinds of countries that have already experienced the most severe loss and damage associated with climate change: record floods in Bangladesh, historic drought in the Horn of Africa, life-threatening sea-level rise in the Marshall Islands, and infectious disease outbreaks in South Asia. The second is that, as a result of their late or ongoing industrialization, these nations have done much, much less to cause the climate change that is already harming them than their counterparts in rich and early industrialized regions such as the European Union and the United States. (Grist staff)

The year 2023 will go down in history with record temperatures and shocking floods, droughts and storms that have ravaged many regions of the world. On the positive side, however, the world appears to be finally waking up to the climate emergency, with more than 90 countries representing 92 percent of global GDP now committed to net zero targets. In this context, the UAE hosted COP28 and provided the first global assessment of progress on climate goals since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. With more than 80,000 delegates from governments, institutions, companies and other key stakeholders, this meeting is being described as the most inclusive COP at all. Hitachi Energy engaged in multi-platform thought leadership activities, highlighting the means and catalysts needed to accelerate the energy transition, the critical role of energy networks and technology deployment at speed and scale, and the importance of innovative policies, regulations and business models. ensure resilient supply chains. (Claudio Facchini , Khaleej Times)

The doors closed on COP28 after nearly two weeks of negotiations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This year's conference was the first "global stocktake" - a review of global climate action to date and a "step-up" of the ambitions needed before the end of the decade to meet the COP21 ("Paris Agreement") mandate for temperature targets. The inventory found that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 43 % by 2030 compared to 2019 levels to keep the global temperature increase within 1.5^about C limit. The agreement reached at COP28 (decision) aims to trigger stronger climate action plans in the next round of Parties' Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), due by 2025. The decision will have implications for industry in line with further announcements and outcomes at COP28 and the private sector, particularly in relation to Environmental Social Affairs and Governance (ESG) – see our key takeaways below. (Julie Vaughan, Jennifer A. Smokelin, Todd O. Maiden)

You've seen the headlines that Cop28 in Dubai resulted in an unprecedented call to "divest from fossil fuels". So why was the celebration from developing countries and civil society so muted?

Countries on the front lines of the climate crisis fear they are still being left to bear the costs and sinking beneath the waves. This global agreement has to work for everyone, or it won't work for any of us.

Here are ten options.

1. No, this outcome is not enough to reverse runaway climate change 

Rather than a detailed plan to save the planet, the deal is a poorly drawn back-of-the-envelope sketch.

It only requires a transition away from fossil fuels instead of a decision to phase out entirely. The world's biggest polluters are not required to act faster than lower-income countries that have done little to address climate change. (Teresa Anderson)

COP28 concluded with an agreement that signals the "beginning of the end" of the fossil fuel era by laying the groundwork for a swift, fair and equitable transition underpinned by deep emissions cuts and increased financing. In a show of global solidarity, negotiators from nearly 200 contracting parties met in Dubai to agree on the world's first "global inventory" to accelerate climate action by the end of the decade - with the ultimate goal of keeping the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.

"While we have not turned the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this result is the beginning of the end," UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said in his closing remarks. "Now all governments and businesses must turn these promises into real economic results without delay."

The Global Inventory is considered a central outcome of COP28 – as it contains every element that was negotiated and countries can now use it to develop stronger climate action plans to be implemented by 2025.

This balance sheet recognizes the science that suggests global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 43 % by 2030 compared to 2019 levels to limit global warming to 1.5°C. However, he notes that the parties are not in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. (Rachel Cooper)

What you need to know.

• After two days of intense negotiations, world leaders adopted a draft decision that sets international climate priorities in response to the findings of the first global assessment under the Paris Agreement. The decision covers several thematic areas, including mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation and resilience to climate change, financing and means of implementing and supporting climate projects, and financing losses and damages for countries threatened by climate change. The text of the draft decision can be found on the UNFCCC website here .

• The most scrutinized and most debated aspect of the deal was the way forward on fossil fuel use, the greenhouse gas emissions of which, the decision states, "have unequivocally caused global warming of around 1.1°C". Recognizing the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1.5°C pathways, the decision calls on Parties to contribute to the following efforts related to the energy transition and the use of fossil fuels:
  • Globally tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling the global average annual rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030; (Carol Browner)

The draft resolution, which is to be discussed at a conference in Dubai on Wednesday, states that countries should “[transition] away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a fair, orderly and impartial manner, thereby accelerating action in this critical The resolution could be adopted or negotiators could be sent to revise it. It comes after the original draft contained no decisive calls for action on global warming, sparking anger among some. More than 100 countries have called for a "phase-out of fossil fuels"; incorporate into the final text after publication of the original proposal. The draft text states that countries will transition to net zero by 2050. Carbon emissions will peak in 2025, although some countries such as China will be able to reach their peak emissions later. The drafting of the discussions lasted until the early hours of the morning on Wednesday. Some eyebrows have been raised over the fact that the draft text does not include the word "oil"; once and contains only "fossil fuels" twice. (Kit Heren)

COP28 is in full swing and within this year's thematic agenda, the key focus area is 'youth, education and skills' - and a theme that underpins eight separate events. So while the COP27 conference dedicated a specific day to events on this topic, this year the youth events span several days of the conference and take different forms. So what key issues will these events address and how do they seek to drive change in ameliorating climate impacts? Here we take a look at the main lineup.

Student energy summit

Perhaps the main event on the youth, education and skills agenda for COP28 is the Student Energy Summit, billed as "the world's largest youth-led energy event". This large-scale summit demonstrates how seriously COP28 takes the views of future generations and provides an opportunity for over 600 young people to meet key individuals from the energy sector and collaborate on different ideas and initiatives to advance energy issues and solutions. (Cassie Blackburn, lexology.com)

EU ministers announced an "inadequate" draft agreement at the world's most important climate summit, as the bloc pushes for an ambitious phase-out of fossil fuels, writes Alice Hancock. Context: For the past two weeks, ministers, delegates, lobbyists and reporters have been running around Dubai's vast Expo City trying to influence and craft an agreement that will support humanity's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate change. But when the third version of the UN COP28 deal fell through last night, EU ministers met the word on polluting fuels with dismay. I cannot hide from you the fact that the current text is disappointing," said Wopke Hoekstra, the EU's climate commissioner. Eamon Ryan, Ireland's environment minister, said: “We cannot get a get out of jail free card for the fossil fuel industry. The current text would give them that." Bulgarian Minister of Water and Environment Julian Popov called it "opposition to science and business reality". The United Arab Emirates, the host of COP28, had hoped the summit would end today, but those plans fell apart as negotiators hurriedly rebooked their flights last night. (Henry Foy, ft.com)