Civil Society in the Arab Region's Position Paper on the COP29 Negotiations
Civil Society in the Arab Region's Position Paper on the COP29 Negotiations
Please click here to download the position paper
Introduction
The 29th session of the Committee of Parties that ratified the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change is being held this year in Azerbaijan. It comes in the middle of a heated international environment dominated by war crimes and concerns whose devastation overshadows interest in climate disasters. On the other hand, Azerbaijan is an oil-producing country whose economy depends mainly on fossil fuels. Oil and gas constitute 90% of its exports, providing 60% of the government budget. The first oil wells in the world were drilled there in the 1840s. It would not be surprising if this fact were to negatively impact the climate summit in one way or another regarding the acceleration of achieving more pledges than those reached by the previous summit last year, also held in an oil country.
COP29 is chaired by the Azerbaijani Minister of Environment Mukhtar Babayev, who addressed the summit participants (considering it an opportunity for dialogue between industrialized and developing countries), identifying a central goal: "setting a new collective quantitative target for financing." The conference president is seeking to obtain $1 billion from fossil fuel producers for the climate fund this year as one of the summit's "achievements," while stressing that this contribution would be voluntary, non-binding, and does not fall under the headline of compensation by industrialized countries and those most responsible for climate change to developing countries. Some fear that this may be a preemptive circumvention of the summit's agenda and directions, in particular since the president's program includes gathering a large number of oil companies to participate in the dialogues and a share of climate financing, under the title of "voluntary contributions," and transforming climate funds from legally binding entitlements and compensations into a "donation box," each according to his desire. It also circumvents the decisions of COP28 in Dubai last year, especially the announcement of the need to "move away from fossil fuels," which was already weak. However, it was to be replaced by a more explicit and more substantial phrase such as "phasing out" fossil fuels, which more than 80 countries called for inclusion in the final text. It was supposed to be translated into a tax on the extraction and consumption of fossil fuels, especially by major companies and financing banks. These need to be added to the demands of civil society.
It is also worth noting that the COP29 host country still seeks to increase its fuel production. The EU countries demand long-term contracts to supply gas (as an alternative to Russian gas) to finance more drilling, production, and export projects. Based on data from Rystad Energy, the host country of COP29 aims to increase its gas production from 35 billion cubic meters in 2024 to 47 billion cubic meters in 2034, which contradicts the final statement of the previous summit last year.
To prepare for COP29, the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) organized a virtual meeting on October 25 for civil society representatives in the Arab region to discuss the issues raised in this COP and draft a position from a civil society perspective
Please click here to download the position paper
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