Highlights from COP29: Week 1 Recap

Within the first few days of COP29, expert reports underscored the urgent need to scale up cooperation, ambition — particularly around adaptation — and “means of implementation” to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, now more critical than ever. 

The NDC Partnership leadership met with more than 50 countries across week one. Discussions centered around the need for ambitious NDC submissions and access to climate finance, providing the path and resources for countries to achieve their mitigation and adaptation targets.  

What We Saw  

Countries expressed renewed commitment to climate action through 2035 emissions reduction targets with their NDC submissions. Brazil, the incoming NDC Partnership Co-Chair, and the UK, a member of the Partnership Steering Committee, both submitted their NDCs, following the UAE, a new member, which submitted its NDC the week prior. During a press conference on the 12th, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasized the need to ramp up international cooperation through the NDC Partnership. The UK reinforced this commitment to global action with a 25-million-pound pledge to support developing countries through our membership, including the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  

Throughout the week, NDC Partnership Country and Institutional Members engaged in in-depth conversations on food systems, data management, health and other critical areas that countries must consider in their NDCs. In this “triple COP” year, climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification remain a key challenge for countries. Rwanda, current Partnership Co-Chair, launched its Climate and Nature Finance Strategy, detailing pathways to mobilize financing from public, private and international sources. At our flagship event on climate finance, leaders from national and international funds, multilateral development banks and the private sector reviewed the transformational impact of deep collaboration across the public and private sectors.  

Experts across industries, sectors and borders spoke to the reason so many came to Baku: To raise ambition on national and global climate action to the highest possible level and to deliver on a collective promise to fight climate change, while driving sustainable development.   

What Needs to Happen Next 

The first week of COP29 laid the groundwork for a constructive COP outside the negotiations, with countries signaling new paths for accelerated action and constructive dialogues that are as far-reaching and interconnected as the climate challenge itself. 

But the path to success must include bold, actionable NDCs that deliver climate, social and economic benefits. The NDC Partnership is committed to supporting countries in raising NDC ambition and advancing implementation at scale.