AQW 23392/22-27

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 26/02/2025
Answered On Date: 11/03/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail the conclusions his Department has drawn following COP29, including lessons learnt from the conference.

Answer:

My Department did not attend the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP). As such any conclusions and lessons learnt are not from direct attendance.

A core aim of COP29 was to build on previous discussions in relation to the ‘loss and damage’ fund which was established at COP27. Whilst there was some progress made at COP29, through the agreement to triple the finance available to developing nations impacted by climate change by 2035, there is still further work required to deliver on this commitment. On 23 January 2025, the UNFCCC reported that the fund had $741 million in pledges made by 27 contributors. Whilst this is a significant achievement, and represents positive progress, it unfortunately still falls below the $1.7tn levels requested by developing nations.

At COP29 a key deliverable was the significant progress made in relation to the dialogue on international carbon market standards stemming from Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, on which, after close to 10 years of discussion, a consensus was reached. This is a vital step in helping to ensure that there are standards in place to verify and support investment in emissions reduction projects and to avoid potential double counting.

Whilst there was progress made in relation to these two areas, unfortunately global emissions have continued to increase year on year which cannot be overlooked. It has been widely reported that 2024 was the warmest year on record at about 1.5c above pre-industrial levels. As such a key conclusion must be that we need to accelerate taking meaningful action which delivers emissions reductions and builds resilience to the impacts of climate change. For some Nations this is about their very existence and survival. The decade ahead must be a decade of action.

I welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement at COP29 regarding the UK’s commitment to a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) emissions reduction target of 81% by 2035. I believe that this commitment is a vital step in the UK Government reestablishing themselves as international leaders on climate change which must be a key take away.

The UK Government subsequently published the UK 2035 NDC plan, on 30 January 2025, prior to the UNFCCC deadline of 10 February 2025. I am, however, disappointed that the UNFCCC NDC Registry shows that the UK is one of only twenty COP Signatory Parties to have submitted an NDC by this deadline. These plans are central to the delivery of the Paris Agreement as they set out how each Signatory Party to the conference plans to reduce their national emissions.