The EcoAction Committee of the Green Party of the US hosted a a webinar on November 11 devoted to the recent COP on biodiversity and the COP on climate that begins on the 11th.

The speaker on the Biodiversity COP was be Alison Lam, critic of Intergovernmental Affairs with the Shadow Cabinet of the Canadian Greens. On the Climate COP was be Susan Phillips, Executive Director of Climate Generation. On the impact on Trump was Mark Dunlea of EcoAction and author of Putting Out the Planetary Fire.

Biodiversity COP

The global summit on biodiversity and halting the destruction of nature ended in disarray on Saturday, Nov. 2, with some breakthroughs but key issues left unresolved. They agreed on a global levy on products made using genetic data from nature, potentially creating one of the world’s largest biodiversity conservation funds. They also formally incorporated Indigenous communities in the official decision-making of the UN biodiversity process, in what negotiators described as a “watershed moment” for indigenous representation.

But while the digital sequence information (DSI) fund plan passed at the meeting, it was unclear whether there were enough countries still present to formalise the vote. If not, countries could question the legitimacy of the decision at a later date.

Observers said that despite the agreements, Cop16 fell short of what was needed to halt the crisis in the natural world, warning that many governments and UN officials were not acting with the required urgency. They pointed to a lack of leadership from the EU, China, Canada and others who had played a leading role in helping to reach agreements on this decade’s targets just two years ago.

Climate COP

A trio of reports released ahead of next month’s COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan all show that the existing national policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement will heat the planet by close to 3 degrees Celsius by 2100, as warming has accelerated in the past few years. The plans “fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy, and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country.”

To reach the goal of cutting global emissions 40 percent by 2030, every national plan due early next year has to include short-term targets for specific sectors like energy, buildings, agriculture and transportation, backed by substantive regulations. Right now, all the submitted national plans add up to about 51.5 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030, which is just 2.6 percent less than in 2019, instead of the necessary 40 percent reduction.

Many are calling COP29 the “finance COP”, seeing it as an opportunity to align climate finance contributions with estimated global needs. Yet despite this focus on unleashing funds, nearly every basic element of the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is still being contested, from the new target and the contributor base to the scope of the finance involved and the Paris Agreement articles in question.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement created principles for carbon markets and ways countries could cooperate to reach climate targets. While rules were agreed to at COP26, negotiation has been needed to establish the necessary guidance to operationalise it. Two successive COPs have failed to get Article 6 up and running.

Growing the Loss and Damage Fund. The amount currently pledged to the still-forming Loss and Damage Fund, whose board will be hosted by the Philippines, is tiny compared to estimated loss and damage needs worldwide.

Getting adaptation on track. Adaptation has often been overshadowed by mitigation, yet it is crucial as climate impacts worsen. COP29 is a pivotal opportunity to prioritize adaptation and secure the necessary resources. With some climate change effects now inevitable, robust adaptation strategies are essential.