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The goal aims to triple climate finance for developing countries to US$ 300 billion per year by 2035, with developed countries taking the lead. It also makes a general call on all actors to scale up such financing to US$ 1.3 trillion per year by 2035 from all public and private sources.

Yet this pales against the nearly US$ 600 billion that developing countries currently need annually to implement even their existing national climate plans until 2030.  Future negotiations need to continue working to address this gap, increasing new sources of finance. We all need to believe that this is possible and act accordingly.

Finance is a critical enabler of accelerated climate action. With every year that passes without adequate financing for climate mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage, the prospect of a stable, healthy, and safe future for humanity recedes. With vulnerable frontline communities around the world already suffering the disastrous effects of the climate crisis, it is imperative that climate finance flows of sufficient scale reach them directly without any further delay.

Alongside the disastrous effects of climate change on people, nature is also increasingly impacted, with dire knock-on effects on economies and societies. According to the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Red List assessment released at COP29, 44% of the world’s warm water coral species are now at risk of extinction, primarily due to climate change. The damage being done to nature undermines a range of services that nature provides us with, ranging from fisheries, food and clean water to carbon storage and protection from extreme weather events.

This underscores the urgency of securing deep reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, including through the rapid and fair phase out of all fossil fuels. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ reiterates its call to all Parties to ensure that new NDCs, with the highest possible level of ambition, are submitted by February 2025 and encourages that they are anchored within national legislation and regulatory frameworks. It also calls for redoubling our efforts to protect, conserve and restore nature. It is only this combination that can successfully keep the temperature and resilience goals of the Paris Agreement within reach.

At COP29, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ was pleased to partner with the Azerbaijan Presidency in co-hosting the Nature and Biodiversity Day in Baku on 21 November. Aimed at aligning actions that benefit climate, people and nature, the day brought together global leaders from government, international organisations, Indigenous peoples’ organisations as well as the public and private sectors to build collaboration and ambition through integrated nature and climate action.

To help ensure that the energy transition that is now needed to keep 1.5 C alive remains nature-positive, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ actively engaged with the private sector during COP29.

COP29 witnessed other important developments. After nearly 10 years of intense and highly technical negotiations, governments finalised the rules to guide the operation of carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ welcomes these key decisions but notes that their implementation on the ground will need to be closely monitored to ensure that they deliver real benefits for the climate, biodiversity and people – and do no harm.

Importantly, COP29 also clearly recognised the role and contributions of Indigenous Peoples and of local communities in nature stewardship and climate leadership, and the disproportionate effects that they face from climate change. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ welcomes the renewal of the mandate of the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP), as well as the successful adoption of their new 2025-2027 . It is critical that the rights, concerns, interests and traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local communities are fully taken into account in all climate policy and action, and that significantly increased climate financing be made more easily and directly accessible to them.

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ also strongly welcomes the decision to the enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender for a further 10 years. There can be no successful climate action in the long term that is not gender responsive and that ensures gender equality.  However, more work now needs to be done, including to develop and adopt a new Gender Action Plan by COP30. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ will continue to actively work with and support Parties in this effort.

COP29 also recognised the valuable role played by non-State actors in supporting the goals of the Paris Agreement. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ welcomes the extension of the mandate of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, including the appointment of high-level champions until 2030.

It is important to note that the climate crisis is also a human rights crisis. As COP29 closes, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ prepares to contribute an advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change at the International Court of Justice in the Hague next month. Climate change undermines the rights of millions of people around the world to a healthy environment, to housing, to preserving their culture, and to life itself. Our Union will continue to stand up for their rights until they are fully respected.