WMBC Calls On COP29 To Deliver Ambitious Policies And Finance To Keep Paris In Sight

We Mean Business Coalition is urging heads of state and government meeting in Baku for this year’s UNFCCC summit to create the enabling environment for private investment to help bridge the funding gap.

The business climate action non-profit is calling for COP29 to follow through on the historic commitments made at Dubai for a clean energy future and deliver global finance to drive ambitious, investible and equitable national climate plans that will move us from fossil to clean.

Maria Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business Coalition said: “The science and devastating impacts of climate change have never been clearer - it is time for world leaders to deliver. As companies worldwide face increasing climate risks, from disrupted supply chains to rising operational costs due to extreme weather, the stakes at COP29 could not be higher.

"To keep the Paris Agreement in sight, we need NDCs aligned with a 1.5°C pathway, decisive policy signals in their implementation plans, and global public financial flows that unlock private investment. Governments meeting in Baku can drive private sector action though smart policies that accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy and nature restoration.”

The latest UN Emissions Gap Report warns of significant gaps between current climate pledges and what is needed for climate stability. The report states that cuts of 42% are necessary by 2030 and 57% by 2035 to get on track for 1.5°C and that failure to increase ambition in new NDCs puts the world on track for a 2.6-3.1C increase over the course of this century. Recent data from the IEA indicates more than $1.7 trillion was invested in clean energy in 2023. But a total estimated annual $8 trillion climate finance is needed right now to keep the world on track for the Paris Agreement, rising to $10 trillion a year after 2030.

Key COP29 asks from We Mean Business Coalition:

COP29 must encourage governments to develop ambitious and investible NDCs 

• Hundreds of companies are urging governments to address the primary cause of climate change: burning fossil fuels. They are looking for clear signals that governments will deliver on the historic commitment at COP28 to accelerate a just transition from fossil fuels to clean energy solutions.
• Governments are working on their national climate targets and plans for 2035 that they have agreed to deliver by early 2025. These plans must accelerate each country's transition from fossil to clean, as well as halt and reverse nature loss, to enable us to secure a safe and sustainable future. Read the Business call to action for ambitious and investible NDCs here.
• The COP29 outcome needs to build on the progress of the COP28 UAE Consensus and signal that NDCs should be both ambitious and investible so they unlock essential private sector investment in the transition. Being investible means:
• Including sector-specific targets, such as increasing clean energy and energy efficiency, phasing out unabated fossil fuels, and halting and reversing deforestation.
• Having a clear commitment to translate targets into concrete policies and regulations that drive investment. 
   
• To ensure the inclusion of SMEs in the transition to a clean energy future, as they make up 90% of business worldwide, policies must address common barriers like limited access to affordable green technology, workforce training, and financing. 
   

COP29 needs to deliver a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on climate finance that will mobilise much greater private sector investment in low- and middle- income countries.

• A strong agreement on climate finance will drive greater corporate climate action to accelerate the global transition from fossil to clean, while halting and reversing nature loss.The NCQG should be designed to catalyze and scale up flows of private finance for climate action in low- and middle- income countries as efficiently as possible.
• Achieving a strong agreement on the NCQG at COP29 will help build trust between countries and lead to more ambitious NDCs by giving greater confidence to low- and middle- income countries that scaled-up finance will be available to implement their new climate plans.
• New analysis in the U.S. on the two years after the Inflation Reduction Act calculated that the legislation facilitated $78 billion in federal investment—including tax credits, grants and loan guarantees. This enabled private investment over the same two years in clean energy technologies of $390-468 billion. 
   
• Businesses are increasingly at risk due to climate impacts on global supply chains. From harvests and production to logistics, the impacts of more frequent and serious weather events such as hurricanes, severe flooding and extreme heat mean greater costs for businesses and consumers. A strong agreement on climate finance that ensures adequate support for adaptation measures, and directly supports SMEs that are often more vulnerable and essential components of corporate value chains, will support resilience across supply chains globally.

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