The biodiversity summit decided to improve policy coherence across the Rio Conventions. But there was little concrete progress on critical issues like financing and forests.
COP29 showed insufficient progress in climate pledges. Greenhouse gas emissions must decrease by at least 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035 to meet Paris Agreement goals.
Experiences from 1500 policies world-wide, show that an effective climate mitigation strategy must include a mix of approaches that include carbon pricing.
Overall, the countries that participated in the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol have overachieved their collective target and achieved an overall emission reduction of 28% in 2020 (compared to 1990 emissions).
The protection of forests did not figure high on the UN climate convention’s COP28 agenda last December and it really seems negotiators are waiting for Brazil’s COP30 in 2025.
Forests have a great potential to deliver on climate mitigation (and adaptation) while at the same time providing important benefits to biodiversity and the indigenous peoples who depend on them.