Global climate leaders call for urgent overhaul of UN climate process

The global climate policy process is no longer fit for purpose and requires comprehensive overhaul to ensure planetary stability and a liveable future for humanity. This is the urgent message of an open letter to the Member States of the UN and Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Secretariat Simon Stiell signed by a group of prominent scientists, advocates and policy leaders as world leaders gather in Baku for COP29.    

Signatories include Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Executive Chair of Earth4All and Global Ambassador of the Club of Rome, Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Action Research, Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland.

There have been significant advances made through the COP process, including the landmark Paris Agreement and agreements to end deforestation. However, the letter highlights the limitations of the existing framework to enact the rapid, large-scale changes now urgently required to limit warming to the 1.5°C threshold. "It is now clear that the COP is no longer fit for purpose" the letter states.  "We need a shift from negotiation to implementation."  

The letter follows remarks from the president of COP29's host country that oil and gas are a "gift of God", and news that an official of Azerbaijan's COP Presidency had been using the event to advance fossil fuel business deals. Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Executive Chair of Earth4All and Global Ambassador of the Club of Rome said:  "We need a COP process that offers delivery, not delay. We demand COPs that are platforms for government and stakeholder ambition, not enablers of fossil energy contracts and growing greenhouse gas emissions. After 28 COPs, time is up on negotiations that don't foster action and implementation. Planetary stability is dependent on equality, justice and poverty alleviation to address the greatest existential challenge of our time."

The signatories warn that we can no longer exclude the possibility of surpassing 2.9°C of warming by 2100. Johan Rockström said: "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."  

Christiana Figueres comments: "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 call for reform comes on the heels of reports warning of increasing global carbon emissions, the degradation of carbon sinks, and unprecedented climate-related human and economic losses. 

The signatories propose seven key reforms to ensure a COP that can deliver on agreed climate commitments and ensure the urgent energy transition and phase-out of fossil fuels:  

1. Improve the selection process for COP presidencies: We need strict eligibility criteria to exclude countries who do not support the phase out/transition away from fossil energy. Host countries must demonstrate their high level of ambition to uphold the goals of the Paris Agreement.
2. Streamline for speed and scale: COP meetings must be transformed into smaller, more frequent, solution-driven meetings to accelerate action and allow for timely adjustments based on emerging scientific findings and changing global circumstances.   
3. Improve implementation and accountability: The COP process must be strengthened with mechanisms to hold countries accountable for their climate targets and commitments.   
4. Robust tracking of climate financing: With climate finance increasingly disbursed as interest-bearing loans, there is a need for standardised definitions of what qualifies as climate finance, alongside reporting and tracking mechanisms.   
5. Amplify the voice of authoritative science: The signatories share growing concerns that climate COPs do not sufficiently integrate the latest scientific evidence and call for a permanent scientific advisory body to be formally integrated into the COP structure.   
6. Recognise links between poverty, inequality and planetary instability: New research from the Earth Commission and from Earth4All affirms the important linkages between ecological and social change processes. The letter calls for a Climate-Poverty Policy Envoy to ensure that these critical links are anchored in the negotiations and implementation actions.   
7. Enhance equitable representation: With fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbering scientific, Indigenous and climate-vulnerable nation representatives at past COPs, there is a need for stronger transparency and disclosure rules and clear guidelines that require companies to demonstrate alignment between their climate commitments, business model and lobbying activities.