CRS Asks For COP29: Solidarity and Climate Action to Support Developing Countries

The UN climate change conference, COP29, will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11-24 November 2024. The parties are meeting at a time when the predicted devastating impacts of climate change are becoming part of our everyday lives. In the 12 months since COP28, extreme weather events have resulted in a massive loss of life, caused billions of dollars of damage to infrastructures and destroyed countless livelihoods.

COP29 can only be a success if real and measurable progress is made in embracing the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, equity and justice in these six key ways:

1. Secure a new global climate finance goal that responds to developing countries’ needs
2. Build momentum for stronger national climate commitments
3. Phase out fossil fuels
4. Get adaptation on track
5. Show progress towards existing commitments on food systems, agriculture and nature
6. Garner pledges for the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage

This is a decisive COP. As Pope Francis has noted, the climate crisis is an opportunity to reconfigure international relations with a new commitment to collectively promoting the common good. Above all, this call to action means that developed countries must lead the way in achieving emission reductions and in providing adequate and equitable access to financial support for adaptation, resilience, and accelerating low carbon development pathways for developing countries.

Published November 2024