By Smith Nwokocha

November 15, 2024

Thousands join global rallies to demand climate finance, fossil fuel phase out during COP29

More than 150 actions held in 24 countries.

Thousands of people joined protest actions around the world today urging world leaders at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan to deliver a new climate finance goal and a rapid phase out of fossil fuels. Over 150 coordinated mass actions took place in more than 30 cities and provinces in 26 countries across the world, including a mobilisation in Baku. 

We will be having a rally at Ogbunabali Community today, championed by Quest For Growth and Development Foundation with support from Asian people’s Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) , as well as Climate Action Network International (CAN Int’l) and we will mobilize youths, Community members, Women and students and also engage major Financial Institutions in the Community to ensure they stop financing Fossil Fuels Projects and ensure the Phaseout of Fossil Fuels and embrace Renewable Energy Transition Plus ensuring Climate Finance!

The rallies called on COP29 to strike a deal on a climate finance goal that would unlock trillions of funding for developing countries’ adaptation and mitigation actions and be able to transition to renewable energy systems. They specifically called for the delivery of climate finance of at least $5 trillion annually and reparations for climate debt, emphasising that the new climate finance goal should be based on the actual needs of developing countries for climate action and the just transition of communities dependent on fossil fuels.

The rallies further called for a rapid and equitable phaseout of fossil fuels and a direct transition to 100 percent renewable energy, stating that developed countries, those with the biggest historical emissions, have the responsibility to deliver a fair and funded phase out of fossil fuels, stating that developed countries have the means to mobilise trillions of dollars for urgent climate action domestically and internationally by ending fossil fuel subsidies, making big polluters pay, taxing the mega-rich, and stopping funding for war and militarism.

At COP28, governments have committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems with developed countries taking the lead. COP29 is considered as crucial in unlocking the climate finance needed to enable a just transition away from fossil fuels. So far, most climate finance that has been delivered were loans, not grants, blocking climate action and exacerbating debt distress in many developing countries. Almost 70 percent of the $91 billion in public climate finance provided in 2022 was in the form of loans.

The 29th UNFCCC’s Conference of Parties or COP29 is taking place from November 11 – 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Nations negotiating at COP29 are expected to agree on a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance from the goal of $100 billion per year by 2020, a deadline which developed countries missed.

Under the Paris Agreement, governments agreed to set an ambitious new climate finance goal by 2025. The scale of finance needed is significant, according to global models from $1.55 trillion to $5.8 trillion to $13.6 trillion annually by 2030.

Climate finance is also seen as key to unlocking more ambition from countries. Early next year, countries will submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which outline climate actions to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Instead of phasing out fossil fuels, governments, in aggregate, still plan to produce  more than  double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than what would be consistent with limiting global warming to  1.5°C.

The 2024 Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) shows that 40% of coal companies worldwide are still developing new power plants, thermal coal mines, or coal infrastructure and that 95% of the coal industry has not set a date for ending the coal business. Meanwhile, new oil and gas exploration licences issued this year in 2024 threaten to generate the highest level of emissions since those issued in 2018. The US and the UK lead wealthy countries planning fossil fuel expansion in spite of their climate commitments. Fossil fuel firms are also investing more money into developing new oil and gas sites than at any time since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

NOTES:

• In Asia, mobilizations were held in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Japan
• In Africa, mobilizations were held in Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Rwanda
• In Europe, mobilizations were held in Greece, UK, Italy