Climate Cleanup’s take on what COP29 means for carbon removal with nature
Optical Illusion
An “optical illusion” is how India described the agreement reached last Sunday at COP29 in Baku. The negotiating group of least developed countries (LDC), which includes 45 nations and 1.1 billion people, argued that the agreement undermined three years of discussions about the climate finance goal–a main point for this edition of the global climate negotiations.
The missing trillion
Facing the possibility of reconvening next year under a Trump administration, many countries decided that the risk of not reaching a new financial agreement in Baku was too significant to ignore. The agreement, in brief, involves at least $0,3 trillion in finance from wealthy countries to developing nations, while the latter requested at least $1.3 trillion. Thus, the “optical illusion” might indeed be a missing number “1.”
Glimpses of light
However there might also be glimpses of light. First, the negotiating process did not completely fall apart. With again an oil state hosting the conference, this was a serious possibility. Second, after nearly ten years, an agreement was finally reached on how carbon credits can be used for collaboration between richer and poorer countries. On the first day of COP29, climate negotiators reached a consensus on a set of standards to enhance the global carbon market and improve the integrity of carbon crediting projects. These standards fall under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, also known as the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism. The approval was considered a critical step for future climate discussions at the summit.
Failed attempts
Will carbon markets truly have a positive climate impact? This is doubtful. Similar efforts have been tried before with poor results. Already in 2005, a carbon trading system was enacted as part of the climate agreements reached in 1997 at COP3 in Kyoto. It was called the “Clean Development Mechanism” (CDM). Its main problem was a lack of “additionality,” meaning that projects (like wind farms or reforestation) would have happened also without the carbon credits. About 80% of the credits were and are useless. Double counting was also an issue. This has not been properly addressed, as countries are only “requested” not to count credits sold to other countries in their own national carbon bookkeeping. Lastly, countries might be able to convert old and ineffective Kyoto projects to the new system without much hassle, importing bad projects into the new programme.
Carbon removal
So is it all bad? Perhaps not. Carbon finance is targeted at adaptation and carbon markets for reduction, avoidance, as well as removal. As we concluded some years ago, carbon removal projects have a different dynamic than avoidance and reduction projects. Carbon removal is not about doing less but about creating new things, like biobased buildings and regenerative farming. Just before COP29, the EU Council approved the EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Regulation. As part of adopting carbon credit rules on day one of COP29, a new UN Standard on carbon removals was adopted. This concise 12-page document aligns with CRCF, ICVCM, and other leading efforts to repair carbon markets—thus aligning with and strengthening ONCRA.
Promises kept
Lastly, on a positive note, in its COP29 Resolution, the EU noted that “developed countries provided and mobilised a total of USD 115.9 billion in climate finance for developing countries in 2022,” with 69% extended as loans and 28% as grants. This exceeded the UN annual $100 billion climate finance goal for the first time. While the agreement is indeed a deeply unjust “optical illusion” for those who contributed least to global warming yet suffer most from it—and despite fossil fuels being kept out of the agreement by oil nations—some promises have actually been kept.
Looking forward
Thousands have worked diligently to achieve what perhaps still seems impossible: aligning nations worldwide to agree on fundamentally changing energy and farming systems—the largest industries in history. As long as we can see through the mist, even just a little, we can appreciate this process and enjoy enabling life while working together on solutions. COP is also a celebration of international cooperation against all odds. Perhaps this summit better enabled removing carbon while facilitating life. Let’s remove carbon with nature, and on to Brazil in 2025.