COP29 Azerbaijan: International co-operation for a sustainable future

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024. With global temperatures hitting record highs, and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe, COP29 will bring together leaders from governments, business and civil society to find solutions to the defining issue of our time. A key focus of COP29 will be on finance, as trillions of dollars will be required for countries to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect lives and livelihoods from the worsening impacts of climate change.

COP29 will be a key moment for countries to present their updated national climate action plans under the Paris agreement, which are due by early 2025. If done right, these plans will limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and double as investment plans advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. But what if it fails to secure an agreement that will secure these goals? This BRLSI meeting brings together a panel of local experts on climate change and the sustainability transition.

The panel will include Penny Tranter, former BBC weather forecast presenter and Met Office advisor; Lorraine Whitmarsh, Professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Bath, Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), and an affiliate of the Tyndall Centre; Stuart Reynolds, an Emeritus Professor at the University of Bath and convenor of the BRLSI science group; and will be chaired by Chad Staddon, Professor of Resource Economics and Policy at in the University of the West of England (UWE).

This meeting has been co-organised with the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Meteorological Society.