Ireland’s Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan is expected to be asked to lead talks at the upcoming UN climate negotiations in Azerbaijan on scaling up supports to ensure vulnerable countries become more resilient to global warming impacts.
Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday in New York where he is attending the UN general assembly, Mr Ryan said he was likely to be asked by the Cop29 presidency to act as co-facilitator on climate adaptation for the annual gathering of almost 200 countries in late November.
The “conference of the parties” (Cops) are the only global mechanism to negotiate new measures to address the climate crisis, and to review progress on curbing carbon emissions and temperature rise under the terms of the Paris Agreement.
Mr Ryan said if a general election was called for that time, it would not undermine his Cop29 role in Baku, as he is not standing for re-election and would be a caretaker minister. “The role working with the UN fits in,” he added.
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Having attended 10 Cops, including the three most recent where he was part of the lead EU negotiating team, he believes he would be asked because of this experience.
“The adaptation brief is significant. It’s fundamentally connected to finance; what’s needed more than anything else,” he added. This is especially the case for small island developing states and other developing countries “who don’t have the financial ability to build resilience”.
His fellow co-facilitator will be from a developing country, while they will have to engage in intense pre-Cop discussions with governments, the Cop29 presidency and key economic blocs including G7 countries and the African Union.
A breakthrough on climate finance was needed by bringing it to the political stage, he said. “People recognise the challenge but agreement will be difficult… Ireland’s position can be a bridging position between the Global North and the Global South. We have a lot of credibility.”
Wealthy countries promised to deliver €100 billion a year in 2020 but that was delivered two years late.
A mosaic of new funding was required, such as from private sources, the insurance sector and philanthropy – backed by reform of the global financial system, the Minister said.
He expected Ireland’s climate finance contribution would be doubled, following another increase in Budget 2025 next week.
Mr Ryan said he had no problem talking with the Azerbaijani government, which presides over a petrostate. If that was an issue, he could not enter discussions with the US and Brazil, two of the world’s largest producers of fossil fuels.
But shifting €800 billion a year in fossil fuel subsidies, and ensuring at least half of that supported clean energy by 2030, “has to be part of the deal”.
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