Conservation International Chief Strategy Officer on UN Climate Summit (COP29): "This is a gut-check moment"

ARLINGTON, Va. (Nov. 10, 2024) – Today, Conservation International's Chief Strategy Officer Patricia Zurita issued the following statement ahead of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – known as COP29 – in Baku, Azerbaijan. COP29 begins on Monday, November 11 and runs through Friday, November 22.

Zurita said: 

“At CBD COP16 in Cali, countries unanimously recognized the connection between nature and climate. This week, as we gather in Azerbaijan for UNFCCC COP29, it’s essential that we carry that momentum forward, from words on a page to robust financial commitments alongside ambitious and determined action.

“Any agreement in Baku must acknowledge the scientific consensus that it is mathematically impossible to meet our climate goals without nature — with immediate steps to invest accordingly. An ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal on Finance that accelerates efforts to close the $700 billion per year nature-finance gap would be a significant step, as would assurance that nature remains eligible for international carbon markets through Article 6 of the Paris Agreement by agreeing on realistic and equal requirements to activities from all sectors.

“Meanwhile, the outcome of this COP will set the tenor for COP30 in Brazil next year, where nature figures to take center stage. Ending deforestation and protecting at least 80 percent the Amazon will be fundamental to meeting global climate goals. It’s no mystery how to make that happen: We must equip Indigenous peoples and local communities with the resources they need to stave off deforestation and protect their lands, as many have done for centuries.

“The stakes of these gatherings only heighten as climate catastrophes grow more visceral. This year alone, more than a thousand people died making the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, amid extreme heat; Hurricane Helene flattened entire towns in the United States; and we saw yet another set of devastating wildfires in the Amazon and Canada. The climate crisis is no longer a worrisome prospect; it’s a violent reality. While working to mitigate future climate disaster, it’s imperative that we build a more robust plan to fund efforts for adaptation and address climate impacts, especially investment in ecosystem-based approaches for climate resilience in the most vulnerable countries and communities. Make no mistake: that requires getting a loss and damage fund operational immediately, with robust financial backing.

“This is a gut-check moment. In the nine years since the Paris Agreement, we have faced our share of hurdles, with more to come. At this moment of peril, we can opt to wallow in fear. Or we can use nature as the world’s galvanizing force, building consensus such that progress is undeniable, to ensure our planet is secure for all who inhabit it now and in the future. Conservation International remains deeply committed to forging that path. In the weeks to come and beyond, we will keep pushing for nature to be taken seriously as an immediate and long-term solution.”

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About Conservation International: Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, for biodiversity and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples and local communities to help people and nature thrive together. Visit Conservation.org for more, and follow us on Conservation News, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.