By Anders Lorenzen

A series of events have prompted criticisms of the host of this year’s UN climate talks, COP29. There’s an increasing sentiment that the procedure is no longer fit for purpose.

The respected and influential scientist and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Action Research, Johan Rockström, Christiana Figueres, the former head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, are some of the influential and high-profile names who have signed an open letter calling for an urgent overhaul of progress.

Advancing own interests

The letter comes on the back of the, in the light of the objective of COP29, controversial comments by the President of Azerbaijan, the host country of COP29, that oil and gas are a ‘gift of God, and that the COP29 presidency has abused the privileges of hosting it to advance its own interests by seeking to form new deals on fossil fuels. The letter expresses serious concerns that the two-week-long summit is at risk of moving further away from ambition.

Rockström explained why he added his name to the letter: “Planet Earth is in critical condition. We have already crossed six planetary boundaries. There is still a window of opportunity for a safe landing for humanity, but this requires a global climate policy process that can deliver change at exponential speed and scale.” 

Figueres, who famously was one of the key architects in securing the historical agreement that led to the signing of the Paris Agreement, added: “At the last COP, fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbered representatives of scientific institutions, Indigenous communities, and vulnerable nations. We cannot hope to achieve a just transition without significant reforms to the COP process that ensure fair representation of those most affected.”

The letter sets out a series of urgent reforms needed to keep the process alive, which they underline is crucial if we are to limit the worst impacts of climate change: 

The selection process for hosting a COP must be improved – and it should not be awarded to countries that do not share the goal of phasing out fossil fuels and are merely obstructing progress. The process should also be streamlined with meetings being smaller, more frequent and solution-driven, adopting mechanisms to hold countries to account, robust tracking of climate finance, establishing a permanent COP scientific advisory body, connecting and acknowledging the links between poverty, inequality and planetary instability, and finally, enhance equitable representation – for instance, fossil fuel lobbyists should not outnumber scientists.

The full letter can be viewed here.