The COP29 Nature Statement

RITURAJ PHUKAN

A group of over 80 international NGOs, business coalitions, companies, Indigenous Peoples organizations and individuals issued the ‘COP29 Nature Statement’ calling for UNFCCC Parties to properly recognize and the role of nature in addressing the climate crisis, arrange for finance to address the crisis or risk undermining global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5C.

The statement, coordinated by Nature4Climate, emphasizes the need for countries to deliver an ambitious and actionable New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, recognizing that healthy ecosystems are not merely co-benefits but serve as cost-effective climate solutions that urgently need dedicated funding.

Yesterday was the thematic Nature & Biodiversity, Indigenous People, Gender Equality, Oceans and Coastal Zones Day at COP29, an important moment to recognise the critical role of nature and Indigenous Peoples in climate action.

The complete text of the COP29 Nature Statement is posted below-

Nature is a powerful ally for climate action. An ambitious NCQG is crucial in closing the climate and nature funding gap.

Dear Parties to the UNFCCC,

There is no viable climate or economic solution without nature. We the undersigned, representing 80 NGOs, business coalitions, Indigenous Peoples and local community organizations, and influential individuals are writing to express deep concern about the lack of progress on financing nature over the past year. A COP29 outcome, including the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG), that does not adequately recognise nature’s role in climate action risks undermining global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5C.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can provide up to one-third of the required climate mitigation by 2030 and are fundamental to underpin climate adaptation and resilience. Additionally, over half of the global economy is highly or moderately dependant on natural resources and healthy ecosystems, with forests alone supporting the livelihoods of 20% of the global population and billions relying on wetlands and the ocean for water and food.

Despite this, current finance and policy mechanisms still work against climate goals and threaten humanity’s future. Funding for NbS at US$200 billion per year is vastly outweighed by almost US$7 trillion per year of finance directed toward activities that harm nature. Since COP28, only five new nature-related joint private and public commitments to finance and support Nature-based Solutions have been identified, while almost half (48%) of existing commitments show little or no evidence of progress, according to Nature4Climate. This paints a concerning picture of deeply inadequate progress fund efforts to halt the loss of nature, upon which a stable climate and livelihoods depend.

The Global Stocktake decision recognised the importance of conserving, protecting and restoring nature and ecosystems towards achieving the Paris Agreement.

The current NCQG negotiation text rightly emphasizes the need to fund the clean energy transition. This ambition must extend to funding the protection, restoration and sustainable management of nature. Any decision, regulation, initiative or activity must acknowledge and respect the interdependencies between climate, biodiversity, land degradation, and sustainable development goals. Healthy ecosystems are not merely co-benefits — they serve as cost-effective climate solutions that urgently need dedicated funding.

We need to both rapidly decarbonize the world’s economy toward zero emissions and halt the destruction of natural ecosystems.

Climate has already and will increasingly cause losses and damages to vulnerable communities as well as the ecosystems upon which they depend. As governments work to agree a final NCQG text, we call on them to:

1. Deliver a fair, ambitious, and actionable New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance that is adequate to the urgency and scale of needs and priorities of developing country Parties, ensures social and environmental integrity, and leaves no one behind. The NCQG must exceed US$1 trillion per year. It must accelerate efforts to scale down public and private flows that run counter to climate objectives, including fossil fuel subsidies and harmful incentives that drive deforestation and threaten biodiversity. The NCQG must encourage Parties and other relevant actors to explore the use of and scale-up of innovative sources of nature finance, such as debt-for-nature/climate swaps, green bonds and high integrity voluntary carbon markets.

2. Maintain the recognition of the crucial synergies between the Rio Conventions and the interdependencies between finance for climate, biodiversity, land degradation and the sustainable development goals.

3. Ensure that climate finance delivery respects, promotes and considers the rights, needs and priorities of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as key actors of change, as well as secures improvements in their ability to directly access funding. The outcome must acknowledge the climate leadership and actions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to steward nature and make sure they have the requisite rights and resources to do so effectively.

The success of COP30 hinges on the groundwork laid at COP29. An equitable and ambitious NCQG is critical to provide the necessary confidence governments need to release 1.5-aligned NDCs early next year that will deliver on the Paris Agreement and support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework goals.

A global crisis requires a collective and collaborative response. As a global community, we stand ready to support this vision to unlock critical funding and ambitious action to protect, manage and restore nature and address the interconnected climate and biodiversity crisis.

The time for ambitious action is now. Our shared future depends on it.

Sincerely,

Organizations, individuals

22-11-2024

Rituraj Phukan: Founder, Indigenous People’s Climate Justice Forum; Co-Founder, Smily Academy ;National Coordinator for Biodiversity, The Climate Reality Project India; Member, IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group; Commission Member – IUCN WCPA Climate Change, IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation, IUCN WCPA Indigenous People and Protected Areas Specialist Groups, IUCN WCPA South Asia Region and IUCN WCPA-SSC Invasive Alien Species Task Force; Member, International Antarctic Expedition 2013; Climate Force Arctic 2019 ; Ambassador, Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. Rituraj Phukan is the Climate Editor, Mahabahu.

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