The twenty-ninth United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP29) will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, November 11-22, 2024. Multidisciplinary experts from WSP will attend to engage in important discussions focused on acting on global climate ambitions.
The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)
The NCQG will be a top negotiating priority. The first reset of this climate finance goal following the Paris Agreement will have a floor of $100 billion USD, an amount currently considered insufficient. The final amount of the NCQG will require both public sector funding and private sector financing and must avoid worsening the debt loads of developing countries.
Loss and Damage Fund
The Loss and Damage Fund was created to provide aid to developing nations impacted by extreme climate and weather events. The countries most impacted by climate change require resources for recovery, resilience, and to pursue their own sustainability targets. The $700 million pledged thus far must be operationalized, and a decision made about the potential to include financing from the private sector.
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Finalizing Article 6 implementation
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which allows Parties to cooperate to achieve their emissions reduction targets by counting reductions achieved in one Party against the target of a second Party, has not yet finalized guidelines for its implementation. Carbon markets have the potential to enable the implementation of promising green projects by making heavy emitters pay for part of the reductions in exchange for being able to claim them as their own. By negotiating conditions, definitions and terms for eligibility, delegates will operationalize Article 6 to avoid greenwashing and deliver measurable and lasting results.
New Emission Reduction Targets
Parties to the UNFCC will discuss the need to set 2035 emission reduction targets – these targets will need to be more ambitious than existing 2030 targets if the world is to be on track to net zero by 2050. Parties are expected to present their 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by February 2025, and will likely cover a range of sectoral actions, including in renewable energy, transport, forestry and land use.
Building the Transition; Financing a Resilient Future
Event Description: Hosted by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), this event will highlight the Buildings Breakthrough initiative, which aims to accelerate the global transition to near-zero and resilient buildings. The session will focus on the critical role of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and the integration of resilience into sector policies. Darius Nassiry, Vice President of Climate Change at WSP in the US, along with other expert speakers, will discuss aligning local roadmaps with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to create resilient and decarbonized built environments. The event seeks to bridge the gap between finance, policy, and built environment stakeholders, promoting collaboration to develop comprehensive national decarbonization and resilience roadmaps.
Date: 14th of November
Time: 9:00 - 10:00 AM GMT+4
Location: Capacity Building Hub in the Blue Zone at COP29
Delivering Aluminium Resources in a Low Carbon World
Event description:
Olivier Joyal, Executive Vice President and ESG Leader at WSP in Canada, will speak at the Canada Pavilion at the 29th session of Conference of the Parties (COP29), addressing the sustainability challenges facing the aluminum industry in Quebec. As global demand for metal resources increases, so does the carbon footprint associated with their extraction.
With aluminum being a key economic driver in the province, industry leaders are forming partnerships to innovate low-carbon solutions throughout the value chain. Olivier will highlight WSP's role in supporting these initiatives and the need for continued investment to decarbonize the sector, fostering collaboration among companies committed to sustainable resource development.
Date: November 16, 2024
View program: Delivering Aluminium Resources in a Low-Carbon World - COP29
High Level Champions special event on SMEs
Event description:
Darius Nassiry, Vice President, Climate Change at WSP in the US, will participate in a roundtable discussion with various collaborators from the Climate-proofing SMEs campaign. They will share their work and explore solutions that can help bring small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into the forefront of climate action conversations.
Date: November 16, 2024
Place: Global Center on Adaptation pavilion
IIF event on blended finance roundtable
Event description:
Darius Nassiry, Vice President of Climate Change at WSP in the US, will join a Blended Finance Roundtable hosted by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG). This in-person breakfast event, held alongside COP29, convenes leaders from both public and private sectors to explore how blended finance can close climate funding gaps and drive sustainable investment. Discussions will focus on the role of financial institutions in mobilizing emerging business opportunities in blended finance, with Nassiry expected to spotlight WSP's recent work on national transition plans, including ongoing work for Aviva.
Roundtable on intergenerational leadership
Event description: Darius Nassiry, Vice President of Climate Change at WSP in the US, will participate in an hour-long roundtable on intergenerational leadership, convened by Open Society, Climate-KIC, and the Center for Public Impact. This event offers a unique platform for sharing insights with the next generation of climate leaders and fostering meaningful dialogue across generations.
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What is climate finance?
Climate finance encompasses the many financial instruments and resources needed to support action on climate change, from government contributions to private sector investment. In the context of the UNFCCC, it is about the provision and mobilization of funding and financing for developing countries to implement their commitments.
What is COP29?
COP29 is the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Parties – the almost 200 countries who have ratified the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change – will come together as a huge group of global delegates and stakeholders to address and tackle climate change.
What is the Loss and Damage Fund?
At COP28, Parties created a fund for the developing countries most vulnerable to the consequences of extreme climate events or progressive changes such as sea level rise. The Fund aims to help these address these consequences and build resilience for the future.
Why is COP 29 important?
COP29 is being billed as the ‘finance COP’, as delegates will negotiate the scale and types of funding and financing climate change actions require.
