According to the United Nations the primary objective of COP29 is “achieving carbon neutrality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions”. The conference this year in particular aims to address issues surrounding the accessibility of financial aid for developing countries to tackle climate change. Each year the contemporary relevancy of the event grows, as the time to stop the potentially irreversible effects of the global climate crisis dwindles. The international presence at the event, further allows necessary action to review current climate progress, and in response provides a chance to create a set of priority measures to unilaterally accelerate preventative action.
This example of international cooperation enforces the potential that the COP29 climate summit possesses to reduce the impacts of climate change and create truly meaningful change for years to come.
We only need to look as far as this year to understand the urgency of the climate crisis. According to the European Environment Agency, the summer of 2024 was the hottest on record for Europe and the globe. With an estimated 370,000 hectares of forest having been destroyed by wildfires in the first nine months of 2024. Additionally, the recent flooding in areas of the Sahara should act as further justification as to why events, like COP29, have a vital role to play in 2024. In September, areas of Southeast Morocco had rainfall within the space of two days that exceeded yearly averages and which resulted in the flooding of Lake Iriqui for the first time in 50 years. Even more recently, hurricane Helene in September and Milton in October, which hit the Southeastern region of the United States, have reportedly caused billions in damages.
Natural disasters like these not only endanger the environment but people as well and the repercussions of these disasters will only increase without appropriate action. International treaties, such as the Paris Climate Agreement (2016), adopted by 196 parties at COP21, demonstrates the effective collaboration at the global climate summit. The agreement consolidates a combined effort to prevent global temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees. This example of international cooperation enforces the potential that the COP29 climate summit possesses to reduce the impacts of climate change and create truly meaningful change for years to come.
