COP29 – Finance deal eventually struck after two all-nighters

Reporting by NFU renewable energy and climate change chief adviser Dr Jonathan Scurlock, NFU senior climate change adviser Dr Ceris Jones and British Agricultural Bureau senior European policy adviser Jenny Brunton.

Photograph: Associated Press / Alamy
Agreement on trebling climate finance to $300 billion was finally reached in the wee small hours of Sunday morning, after the COP29 international climate talks ran over by nearly a day and a half.

Reaction has been mixed, with many poorer and vulnerable countries considering this amount inadequate compared with the scale of current direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies, but other observers have drawn strength from the many side agreements made in Baku (e.g. on ‘Article 6’ international trade in carbon removals) as well as past and continued progress with the global energy transition.

Negotiators had been poles apart since Thursday, when the COP Presidency convened a tense plenary session (or Qulturay, according to local custom) to gather feedback on its draft negotiation texts. Debate continued to rage, and it was indeed all about the money – how much (anywhere between $250bn and $1.3 trillion), and from whom (the higher figure including private sector finance as well as multilateral banks, etc.).

Delegates worked through both Friday and Saturday nights, with informal groups holding huddled fringe meetings in the corridors, and a staged walk-out by the poorer and more vulnerable nations, before finally COP President Mukhtar Babayev brought his gavel down on the principal “New Collective Quantified Goal” and a number of subsidiary texts.

What does this mean for farming?

The agreed finance goal had risen from $250bn to $300bn, accompanied by a planned roadmap to reach ‘at least’ $1.3 trillion for consideration at next year’s COP30 in Belem, Brazil, as well as an intended review of the $300bn figure in 2030.

Source: this graphic is based on the IHLEG report on climate finance and was created by the content team at UNCS.

Funds are expected to help developing countries invest in renewable energy and prepare for the impacts of the changing climate. But, after the customary standing ovation and congratulatory handshakes, there were a series of angry interventions from the floor of the closing plenary, led by India – which rejected the rushed approval, calling the agreement an “optical illusion” and complaining that due process had not been followed.

While the international Farmers’ Constituency was disappointed that the word ‘farmers’ did not feature among other climate-vulnerable groups mentioned in paragraph 26 of the agreement, we were pleased that the aim of the text stated in paragraph 1 “does not threaten food production”.

It is also gratifying that COP29 finally concluded the carbon trading rules originally set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Farmers across the world will want to make sure that carbon markets prioritise farmers’ rights, consider the diversity of farm systems and actually work for farmers in practice.

Reporting from NFU senior climate change adviser Dr Ceris Jones and British Agricultural Bureau senior European policy adviser Jenny Brunton.

Well-attended and held every morning during the climate talks, the Farmers’ Constituency meetings brought together farmers’ organisations from all continents.

Photograph: Farmers’ Constituency meeting at COP29
Our objective was to ensure that farmers’ voices were heard in as many meeting rooms as possible across the conference.

The constituency heard from Gulbaniz Ganbarova, chairperson of the Azerbaijani Rural Women’s Association. She highlighted several case studies funded by USAID (US Agency for International Development) to strengthen the resilience and increase the competitiveness of these female-run micro-enterprises.

Constituency members from Poland had the opportunity to visit a very small mixed farm near Karabaskh.

Photograph: Gulbaniz Ganbarova, chair of the Azerbaijani Rural Women’s Association

Recent analysis by the ECIU (Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit) showed how the UK Government has joined forces with 60 other countries to help farmers directly responsible for producing staples like bananas, rice, tea and coffee to adapt to climate change.

The Farmers’ Constituency also wanted to show its support for farmers who have found themselves in precarious circumstances through no fault of their own. The constituency endorsed the COP29 Presidency’s appeal for a ‘COP Truce’, in recognition of the devastating impacts of conflicts on farmers and how they can render large areas of land unusable, and the Baku Call for Climate Action for Peace, Relief, and Recovery.

The Baku Call responds to the growing recognition that the adverse effects of climate change, such as water scarcity, food insecurity, land degradation and human displacement, can act as catalysts for conflict and instability, especially in the most climate-vulnerable regions.

The constituency wanted to show its support for the promotion of climate-resilient agriculture and other practices in such regions.

The collaborative atmosphere established between all the farmers’ organisations involved in the COP process bodes well for COP30 in Belem, when agriculture is likely to be high on the Brazilian presidency’s agenda.

And in the last few days of COP29…

• Ceris met with the Defra Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh, as well as the UK Nature Envoy, Ruth Davis.
• Jenny intervened in a UK Pavilion event on ‘Building finance for sustainable farming’, highlighting the importance of including farmers in conversations on decisions which directly impact them.
• And so, a COP where young Azeri volunteers keen to practice their English across the venue brightened up delegates’ days has drawn to a close. All eyes now are already looking to Belem, the gateway to the Amazon, where the next major round of inter-governmental climate talks will take place under growing scrutiny.

The UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency met with Ramón Pichs-Madruga, vice chair of the scientific IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), who is now a dedicated lead for the IPCC to build relationships with the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency.

We discussed the need to include local knowledge in IPCC-reviewed science and how to make this relevant to practical situations and appliable and relevant to on-farm decisions.

The desire of the IPCC to better communicate the complexity of its science in relation to agriculture was music to farmers’ ears.

The Farmers’ Constituency also met with the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) to discuss plans for next year’s COP30 in Belém, where there is a priority to place agriculture in a prominent role as both an emissions source and a solution in climate change action.

Brazil is gearing up to host the 30th Conference of Parties (COP30) in the city of Belém (Pará), located on the fringes of the Amazon forest in November 2025.

Together with Zakir Hossain, founder of Farmers’ Voice in Bangladesh, Jenny Brunton represented farmers at a traditional Emirati majilis.

Photograph: Jenny Brunton speaking at the majilis

The majilis brought together people from all walks of life, including elders, youth, people of determination, and diverse community representatives, in a meaningful dialogue on community-driven climate solutions.

Jenny called for the upcoming World Summit on Social Development to include food security as a fundamental issue for consideration.

Photograph: Zakir Hossain, founder of Farmers Voice in Bangladesh

Today Ceris and Jenny attended a session on ‘Making climate finance work for farmers: On-farm experiences and concrete solutions’.

The event explored the critical role of farmers in global food security and rural development, their disproportionate exposure to climate risks, and the pressing need to unlock access for them to climate financing.

Ceris was a joint moderator of this official COP Presidency discussion, seated next to the Minister of Agriculture for Azerbaijan

Photograph: 2024 UNFCC - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photograph: 2024 UNFCC - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

NFU Dairy Board member and organic farmer Sophie Gregory is attending the climate talks as part of the Global Dairy Platform.

At a panel session organised by the International Dairy Federation and International Livestock Research Institute, she addressed the topic of ‘Animal health, mitigation and adaptation – Innovative financing for sustainable development’.

Catch up with her personal impressions of COP29 in the update below:

Sophie also sits on the Arla Board of Representatives, and spoke at an event in the Danish pavilion about the farmer-owned company's incentive scheme for climate-smart farming that adds to the milk price.

Jenny is joined by young Ugandan farmer Mawejje Harbert at the High Level Ministerial on Just Transition.

Their message was that a truly 'Just Transition' must recognise the essential role of farming in food security, environmental management and the wellbeing of rural communities.

Photograph: Jenny and Mawejje

Ceris moderates a ‘side event’ on ‘Empowering farmers: access to finance and innovation for climate adaptation and resilience’ with the WFO, US Dairy Export Council and Rainforest Alliance.

Farmers from Botswana, Finland, and Mauritius, together with policy makers from Sierra Leone and US and the certification body, the Rainforest Alliance, provided their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges to investing in agriculture to enhance adaptation and resilience.

Making climate finance accessible, predictable, and inclusive

Ceris also participated in the annual ‘open dialogue’ between governments and non-governmental organisations on moving from billions to trillions to finance the global climate transition.

Ceris has been working closely with the COP29 Presidency to co-draft the programme for this event. Participants were reminded about the vulnerability of agriculture to a changing climate and how the sector is an integral part of the global climate solution.

However, the farming sector receives less than 3% of total climate finance. Discussions centred on the need to make climate finance accessible, predictable, and inclusive for all farmers.

Along with her co-focal point Francesco Brusaporco of the WFO, Ceris also met with Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme).

In her response to farmers’ questions, Ms Andersen recognised farmers as part of the solution and that farmers needed support to enable farming and biodiversity to work together.

After a number of negotiations this week, the draft conclusions about the online portal for the joint work on the implementation on climate action for agriculture and food security were agreed.

Parties have requested the UNFCCC Secretariat to further develop the online portal and develop a template for submissions, which Parties and observers can use to upload case studies, projects, or calls for collaboration and finance.

In the closing statement for the UNFCCC Farmers' Constituency, Jenny called for Parties to not lose focus on the real needs of farmers who are on the frontline of climate change impacts.

She highlighted that we are now two years onto a four year work programme, and we need to shift attention to means of implementation of climate actions which will bring meaningful benefits to farmers.

Along with her co-focal point Francesco Brusaporco of the WFO (World Farmers' Organisation), Ceris met several high-ranking people at COP29 to talk about farmers’ climate challenges and priorities.

Photograph: 2024 UNFCC - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Ceris met with:

• The new UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary Noura Hamladji
• COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev
• New IPCC chair Prof Jim Skea and vice chair Ramon Pichs-Madruga.

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

This meeting aimed to start building a much closer relationship between the Farmers’ Constituency and the IPCC as the latter prepares its next scientific reports.

Photograph: Rachel Kyte, UK Special Representative for Climate

Ceris was also in the room when Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Climate) at DESNZ Kerry McCarthy launched the UK Government’s new Voluntary Carbon and Nature Market Integrity Principles.

The event was chaired by the UK’s climate envoy, Rachel Kyte. Panellists at the event were clear about the critical need to engage rural/local communities and for benefits to go directly to these communities.

Launched at COP29 in Baku, a new United Nations Global Nitrous Oxide assessment is warning that emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O), a potent greenhouse gas, are rising faster than expected.

The assessment says immediate action is required to curb the environmental and health impacts of this super pollutant.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful and long-lived GHG with a global warming potential 298 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2) according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

Emissions of N2O from agricultural systems are largely associated with the use of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilisers and manures.

As part of the essential nitrogen cycle, nitrous oxide plays a crucial role in our global food system but demands urgent attention for sustainable solutions. The report highlights actionable steps to cut emissions by over 40%, with deeper reductions achievable through improving the efficiency of nitrogen use in agriculture and more targeted nitrogen application.

Agriculture uniquely placed to be part of the solution

Senior adviser Jenny Brunton highlighted at the launch of the report that agriculture is uniquely placed to be part of the solution to climate change, as it is both an emissions source and a sink.

Nearly 40% of agriculture emissions are nitrous oxide and reducing these emissions is complex because they result from complex natural soil and animal microbial processes.

Jenny called for an expansion of the work to consider the climate finance requirements needed to reach these targets and to ensure that farmers are able to implement efficiency measures to deliver this ambition.

NFU renewable energy and climate change chief adviser Dr Jonathan Scurlock reports.

Photograph: 2024 UNFCC - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Following advice last month from the independent advisory CCC (Climate Change Committee), Sir Keir Starmer told the COP29 conference on Tuesday that the UK is indeed committed to an ambitious 2035 goal of cutting GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by 81% below 1990 levels.

Arriving in Baku, together with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the Prime Minister is one of a minority of G7 leaders attending the ‘climate action summit’ part of the talks, but the UK Government appears determined to resume world leadership in tackling climate change.

Noting that a global transition to clean power is currently well under way, Keir Starmer highlighted the benefits of being a “first mover” in setting the world’s most ambitious goal for an industrial economy.

While he would not dictate how people live their lives, the interim goal of ‘clean power’ by 2030 was a vital step.

Driving greater uptake of clean power

Startling though these promised emission cuts may appear on the international stage (in sharp contrast to the flip-flop climate politics of others like the USA), they are actually in line with previous expectations, given the legally-binding UK domestic commitment to set its own five-year carbon budgets.

Cutting our GHGs by more than four-fifths in 11 years’ time is already expected under the sixth carbon budget (equivalent to a 77-78% emissions reduction over the period 2033-37). More challenging, perhaps, is the previous UK commitment to a 2030 ‘National Determined Contribution’ of a 68% emissions reduction.

Incoming CCC chief executive Emma Pinchbeck, herself a veteran of the electricity industry, has already warned that driving greater uptake of clean power (electric vehicles and heat pumps) will be essential to meeting the UK’s medium-term climate ambitions, alongside public consent to a fair energy transition that yields perceptible economic benefits.

On day 2 of COP29, Ceris represented farmers at the opening ceremony of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit and the Methane and non-C02 Greenhouse Gases Summit.

Photograph: 2024 UNFCC - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

During the Methane and non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases Summit, Secretary of State Ed Milliband signalled the need to do more to tackle GHGs from waste.

This summit was also notable for the joint US-China opening panel, and for Brazil, president of next year’s climate COP, talks about their plans to reduce methane emissions from agricultural residues and livestock production and their new Future Fuel Law to enhance traditional biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, while also fostering innovation in emerging fields such as sustainable aviation fuel, green diesel, biomethane, and carbon capture.

Photograph: Lauren Hurley / DESNZ
Ceris also met with Emma Pinchbeck, new chief executive of the UK’s Climate Change Committee.

Day 2 at COP29 kicks off with UNFCCC Farmers' Constituency coordination, followed by a speedy walk to the other side of the venue for the first negotiations of the Sharm Joint Work on Agriculture, reports BAB senior European policy adviser Jenny Brunton.

Photograph: 2024 UNFCC - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Jenny also spoke on a platform in the Danish pavilion with Food Minister Jacob Jensen and the chair of the Danish Climate Change Council Peter Møllgaard, where she highlighted the importance of farmers being active participants in policy decision-making, particularly on climate action where agriculture is unique in enabling both adaptation and mitigation.

Photograph: L-R Irene Anena from DanChurchAid, Uganda, Mads Dalum Libergren, Ministry of Finance Denmark, Jenny Brunton and Peter Møllgaard, Chair of the Climate Council in Denmark

British Agricultural Bureau senior European policy adviser Jenny Brunton speaks at the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency meeting.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Jenny writes: “Climate change is already here and farmers are often on the frontlines of the impacts.

“We need climate finance to deliver for farmers reflecting the complexity and scale of the challenges faced, that works with the diversity of farm systems.”

Did you catch NFU senior climate change adviser Dr Ceris Jones on Farming Today this morning?

Speaking to the BBC Ceris said: “COP29 has been designated the finance COP – all governments are going to Baku with the aim of increasing ambition so that everyone can work together to meet the Paris Agreement.

“But ambition needs delivery and finance is one of those. There are a number of finance negotiations at the COP and all the farmer organisations want to ensure agriculture is invested in to meet the climate challenges ahead.”

When asked what role farmers have to play in all this, Ceris remarked that “everyone sees a different way of getting to the same end”.

“We [farming] have a lot of offer and that needs to be recognised nationally and internationally, but for that to happen farmers need to be engaged and involved in the conversation at all stages of the process.”

Listen from 08:00.