Daily Update COP29 - Thursday 14 November

What you need to know

• Integrity at the Heart of Climate Action: UN Secretary-General emphasizes the importance of accountability and transparency in the global stocktake at COP29, calling for bold actions to keep 1.5°C within reach. Read his remarks.
• Unpacking the Loss and Damage Landscape: Discover how the global support system addresses loss and damage, highlighting the roles of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) Executive Committee, its thematic expert groups, the Santiago Network, and the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage in supporting developing countries. Learn more.
• Meeting on Thursday with non-governmental entities in Baku, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the crucial role that cities, regions, businesses and financial institutions must play in driving the worldwide effort towards reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century. Read the news
• In the Opening Plenary on Wednesday, WMO highlighted the role of the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch initiative in providing data to inform decision making and called for increased funding to the Systematic Observations Financing Facility. GLOBAL CLIMATE OBSERVING SYSTEM (GCOS) stressed maintaining in-situ observation stations and data archives, and called on parties to continue observations on glaciers, ensure historic data availability, and appoint national GCOS coordinators. WORLD CLIMATE RESEARCH PROGRAMME outlined its many projects, including upcoming work to fill knowledge gaps in global precipitation, with a focus on freshwater regions. Read IISD Daily report 

Now is the time to fast-track, not backtrack; the time for ambition and transparency. Not greenwashing,

UN Secretary-General António Guterres 

Picture of the day

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo (left) with the Minister of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan, Boobek Ajikeev

WMO

Youth at COP29

Empowering the Next Generation: At COP29, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo and the WMO Youth Delegation, led this week by Maria Julia Chasco, met with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Felipe Paullier to strengthen the role of youth in shaping a sustainable future. The discussion emphasized equipping young leaders with science-based information to drive meaningful climate action. The path forward includes aligning the WMO Youth Action Plan with the Global Goals, the UN Youth Strategy 2030, and the Summit for the Future priorities. Further collaboration will focus on skill-building, policy innovation, and empowering youth-led solutions for a sustainable future. Listen to what some young leaders had to say on WMO’s Instagram. 

WMO Youth Delegation, led this week by Maria Julia Chasco (left), met with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Felipe Paullier

WMO

Today

• Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Progress and Cross-Learning Forum: According to the Global Status of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems 2024 report, the world is at its highest levels of reported early warning coverage since 2015. The report shows that countries with less comprehensive MHEWS have a disaster-related mortality ratio that is nearly six times higher than that of countries with ‘substantial’ to ‘comprehensive’ coverage, and nearly four times more disaster-affected people. The report presents recent data and 12 key findings, supported by a series of recommendations to scale up action to save lives and change lives. Global Status of MHEWS Report -  MHEWS in LDCs Report
• SOFF Action Report Launch - New systematic observation partnership with the Global South is growing fast. Denmark, Finland and Norway announced additional contributions to the SOFF UN fund. SOFF now capitalized with more than USD 100 million from 12 pioneer funders. SOFF Action Report 2024 launched, showcasing speed and scale of SOFF operations. 60 countries supported and 18 countries with investments approved to close basic weather and climate data gaps. Read the news - Watch the recording
• Wednesday’s event AIM for Scale's event on Global partnership to scale-up weather services for farmers showed that global partnership channels more than USD 1 billion to scale up weather services for hundreds of millions of farmers across Asia, Latin America and Africa. WMO will provide guidance and technical assistance on weather observation, data management and exchange, forecasting, and agrometeorological weather and climate service development and delivery. Read the news 

Tomorrow

• WMO Pavilion - Explore Key Climate-Sensitive Sectors at COP 10:00-13:30: Join the onsite event at the Science for Climate Action Pavilion on 15 November 2024 to discuss agricultural adaptation, drought resilience, renewable energy, and health impacts. More...
• Trade and Investment House - 14:00 - 15:00 [WTO & WMO] Supporting the renewable electricity transition through trade: Unlocking re-globalization opportunities via interconnection. Cross-border trade of renewable electricity can help even out spatial and temporal mismatches in supply and demand of renewable electricity. Trade has a key role in ensuring that national power grids operate efficiently – a role that is also supported by high-quality meteorological and climate data services. More...
• Gender-Responsive Heat Actions for Cities: Explore innovative, gender-responsive approaches to urban heat resilience and their impact on climate and social equity. Watch live. 

Post of the day

WMO

More communication assets are available on the UN Communication COP29 board and Early Warnings for All Initiative board