The EESC at COP29

As in previous years, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will actively participate in the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – COP29, which will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11-22 November 2024.

Last year's COP28, held in Dubai, was recorded as the largest climate conference in history, with over 80,000 attendees, including heads of state, negotiators, businesses, and civil society representatives. COP28 marked a significant milestone as it was the first to officially acknowledge the need for a global "transition away from fossil fuels". This acknowledgment was incorporated into the first-ever Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement – a crucial process designed to evaluate the world's collective response to the climate crisis.

COP29 in Baku is expected to be a decisive conference for comprehensive climate action, with topics like climate finance – including the New Collective Quantified Goals (NCQGs), and the upcoming Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) due by February 2025 – as well as the alignment of biodiversity and climate.

The COP Presidencies Troika unites the efforts of the COP28, COP29 and COP30 Presidencies to drive ambitious collective climate action through collaboration and cooperation.

The EESC delegation will consist of Peter Schmidt, the Chair of the Ad Hoc Group on COP, plus the EESC youth delegate to the UNFCCC Diandra Ní Bhuachalla.

As part of the EU delegation, our delegates will engage in meaningful conversations, bilateral meetings and activities to call for more ambitious climate action, based on science and scientific information, and they will focus on the role of organised civil society to accelerate climate action.

Our delegates will attend COP29 with the messages of our previous EESC resolution (adopted in 2022) and two specific contributions (adopted in 2023), which remain fully valid:

• EESC resolution | Jointly tackling an existential threat - social partners and civil society for the implementation of ambitious climate action, as well as the two specific contribution (adopted 2022)
• EESC contribution | The implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security (adopted 2023)
• EESC contribution | The just transition work programme (adopted 2023)

For COP29, we will focus on climate finance (EESC opinion NAT/929 on climate finance) to contribute to the ongoing discussions. More information will be available soon.