Mind the Gap

Floods, heatwaves, and record temperatures have seen the climate crisis reach a new peak in 2024. However, there have also been positive signs. The energy transition, for example, is gaining momentum across the world, forward-looking technology such as energy storage systems and heat pumps are becoming increasingly competitive, and the demand for coal, oil, and gas could soon fall. Nevertheless, political measures need to be implemented quickly to achieve the Paris Agreement goals.

Climate finance makes a decisive contribution to this and will be the focal point of COP29 in Baku. The negotiations on the new climate finance goal beyond 2025 face the great challenge of restoring the trust marred in previous years as a result of unfulfilled pledges. To achieve this, urgently needed support must be guaranteed for those most seriously affected by climate change who have contributed the least to it. This is the only way to put climate finance on a firm footing.

The paper answers the most important questions about the UN climate talks and makes clear what Germanwatch expects from the negotiations. The focus is on: 

• Climate finance
• Adaptation
• Nationally Determined Contributions
• Loss and damage
• Mitigation
• Just Transition Work Programme
• Food systems
• Human rights and civil society in the COP host country