Callum Provan
Content Strategist
The Finance and Energy/Peace, Relief and Recovery Days saw a flurry of activity from investors and other non-state actors in Baku, even as uncertainty remained around the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance which must be agreed at COP29.
Some 65,000 attendees welcomed an official day of rest on 17 November after a packed first week. Rumours in Baku Stadium centred on the progress of the COP29 Finance text, which Carbon Brief reported has reduced from 33 to 25 pages. Many brackets, however, signal slow progress in overcoming disagreements and a challenging week ahead for negotiators.
Several world leaders did not attend, including US President Biden, French President Macron, and the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen, though other countries did announce new climate plans. The UK, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates shared updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at the conference, setting a standard for other nations to follow.
“This statement of intent signals UK leadership on climate and offers a valuable opportunity to attract clean energy investments, spur clean growth, and strengthen investor confidence in the country’s climate trajectory.”
The UK plans to cut 81% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, relative to 1990 levels, while Brazil pledged to cut emissions 59-67% by the same year, relative to 2005. The United Arab Emirates, host to last year’s COP28, announced its plan to reduce 47% of its emissions by 2035, relative to a notably higher baseline of 2019.
Reacting to the UK announcement, Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of IIGCC said:
“This statement of intent signals UK leadership on climate and offers a valuable opportunity to attract clean energy investments, spur clean growth, and strengthen investor confidence in the country’s climate trajectory.”
An unavoidable investment case
In the ‘real economy COP’, our delegation was on the ground to discuss how best to increase investment in emerging markets, the need for more investable NDCs including National Adaptation Plans, and the challenges of decarbonising the built environment.
This included co-hosting an event with the Atlantic Council, which convened financial institutions and climate finance negotiators in an informal discussion, sharing mutual needs to inform the negotiations. Moderated by Valentina Ramirez, IIGCC Head of Climate Strategy Implementation, investors emphasised the need for industrial policies that incentivise investments in climate solutions, encouraging negotiators to complement their approach to the NCQG to foster stronger engagement with private finance actors.
"“I can tell you how to talk to the trees, talk to the water. You can connect with Indigenous communities…Businesses have to invest in people.”
On day two, we co-hosted a panel with the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action to strengthen impactful collaboration between public and private actors to deliver climate finance at scale, particularly in developing countries. The event was convened by the COP29 Presidency with an opening keynote from Nigar Arpadarai, the Azerbaijani Climate Change High-level Champion.
Arianna Griffa, IIGCC Senior Policy Manager, moderated a panel with Rowan Douglas, CEO of Climate Risk and Resilience at Howden; Raquel Moses, CEO of the Caribbean Climate Smart Accelerator; and Juan Carlos Jintiach, Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities.
Juan Carlos, a member of the Shuar Indigenous group in the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador who was shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize, explained to the audience:
“I can tell you how to talk to the trees, talk to the water. You can connect with Indigenous communities…Businesses have to invest in people.”
Attracting investment
On Friday, we co-hosted an official side event as a founding partner of the Investor Agenda, featuring discussions with IIGCC members, other international investors and government officials. The event began with a reminder that 650 investors, representing more than USD33 trillion in assets under management, signed their support for the 2024 Global Investor Statement on the Climate Crisis.
Matias Cardomingo, General Coordinator for Social and Environmental Impact Analysis for the Ministry of Finance in Brazil, delivered the opening remarks. He outlined the country’s new climate and ecological transformation investment platform, named BIP, which, alongside a suite of supportive green policies, can help to attract investments for the transition.
This was followed by a panel discussion on policy action to unlock investments for a net zero and resilient economy, moderated by Arianna Griffa.
The panel featured insights from Erich Cripton, Director of Business Relations at the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ); Natalie Sinha, Head of Sustainability, Infrastructure Investing at UBS; and Hidehiko Sogano, Director and Managing Executive Officer at Dai-ichi Life Holdings in Japan. Discussions reiterated the need for clear sectoral pathways to support hard-to-abate sectors, underscored by an appetite from private finance to do more.
We shared new climate solutions guidance for renewable energy infrastructure, which aims to support the COP28 target of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.
A second panel explored how investor action is accelerating the transition to the net zero economy. It was moderated by Nicolette Bartlett, Chief Impact Officer at CDP with panellists Jan Kæraa Rasmussen, Head of ESG and Sustainability at PensionDanmark; Peter van der Werf, Head of Active Ownership and Executive Director at Robeco; and Nana Li, Head of Sustainability and Stewardship, Asia Pacific at Impax Investment Management.
Peter shared Robeco’s “traffic light system” to assess company and country sustainability maturity and referenced our paper, making NDCs investable, while Nana Li shared new research from Impax IM which supports investment in developing markets.
Taking action
Elsewhere, Valentina spoke on a panel focused on de-risking private climate finance, hosted by the Danish Industry, and a panel on the increasing role of pull finance to de-risk investments in emerging markets, hosted by KPMG in the Canada Pavilion.
Valentina also moderated a panel on driving innovative approaches to incentivise climate resilience investment, before joining a panel to discuss real economy standards to deliver an equitable net zero future, outlining lessons from the Net Zero Investment Framework.
Hugh Garnett, Senior Programme Manager, Real Assets, spoke in an official UNFCCC implementation lab focused on how best to enhance ambition for energy policy. He shared our new climate solutions guidance for renewable energy infrastructure, which aims to support the COP28 target of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.
This came alongside a panel where Hugh discussed investing in innovative solutions to decarbonise the built environment, highlighting the challenge of measuring energy efficiency.
Overall, despite the uncertainty around headline negotiations across finance, mitigation and adaptation, one thing is clear: investors made their voices heard and are taking action. Now, all eyes are on the final week of negotiations.
If you’d like to take part in our working groups and help shape the outputs of our resources, get in touch today to learn more about becoming a part of IIGCC.