Recently, some high-profile experts (the former UN secretary-general and a former UN climate chief) have advocated for a dramatic change to the United Nations’ COP climate negotiations.

Recently, some high-profile experts (the former UN secretary-general and a former UN climate chief) have advocated for a dramatic change to the United Nations’ COP climate negotiations. These experts describe the situation in their letter to the UN as follows: The current format of the COP is too weak to cope with the increasing pace of the climate crisis.

Next goal: Changing approach to climate action

The letter, signed by influential figures such as former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and former Irish President Mary Robinson, points to an urgent restructuring of the COP process. Those who signed the letter consider the current structure of the COP inadequate to face the exponential challenges posed by climate change.

Experts underline that the COP negotiations, which involve almost 200 countries around the world and are being researched and driven by consensus, are progressing slowly. They point to the progress made in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement with ambitious targets to phase out fossil fuels, to name a few examples. But they argue that the current pace of change is not fast enough to prevent catastrophic climate impacts.

“Current architecture cannot produce change at the exponential pace and scale that is critical to ensuring a safe climate descent for humanity,” the signatories wrote. But even though the climate crisis will continue to worsen, some gains have already been made. This year may be the hottest year ever recorded.

Worsening Crisis: Response Outpacing Warming

Johan Rockström, one of the signatories and a leading climate scientist, stated that the planet is in a “critical situation”. Stating that the window for ensuring a “safe landing” for humanity is rapidly closing, Rockström continued: “There is still a window of opportunity for a safe landing for humanity, but this requires a global climate policy process that can deliver change at an exponentially increasing speed and scale.” he said.

The signatories have an argument that climate negotiations can no longer cope with the increasing urgency of climate impacts as of now; This often outpaces countries’ ability to respond meaningfully.

The Role of Fossil Fuel Interests in Hosting COP

The publication of this letter comes amid growing concerns about the capacity and will of some countries, particularly those that are the world’s largest fossil fuel producers, to host COP talks. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev outspokenly defended his country’s natural gas exports, which he described as “God’s gift”. Simon Neville added that when nations put their fossil resources on the market, they are doing what comes naturally to them. This was just days after the BBC revealed a senior Azerbaijani official had been accused of using his position at COP29 to discuss potential fossil fuel deals.

“Every natural resource – whether it is oil, gas, wind, solar, gold, silver, copper – they are all natural resources. Countries should not be blamed for having them, and they should not be blamed for putting these resources on the market, because the market needs them, the people need them,” Aliyev said in the opening speech of COP29 in Baku.

Criticism of COP 29’s Link to Fossil Fuels

In fact, this attitude of the Azeri authorities has caused alarm among many climate leaders and activists. A trend of this nature is also present in previous hosts such as the UAE, one of the world’s leading oil producers. Such a host country may have a lot to lose in terms of having fossil fuel industries; Thus, the main purpose of the climate talks is defeated.

Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said it made little sense to increase the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists in COP talks because fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbered representatives of scientific institutions, indigenous communities and vulnerable nations at the last COP meeting in Dubai. “We cannot hope to achieve a just transition without significant reforms to ensure fair representation of those most affected in the COP process,” he said.

More Assertive COP Servers

The authors of the letter argue that countries that will be given the right to host COP talks should be more committed to the Paris Agreement goals. Second, they also call for an overhaul of the COP process into frequent, smaller meetings to ensure transparency of nations’ promises and actions.

Experts say the current COP system of large-scale annual events is not designed for fast-paced climate change. They then demand a more dynamic system that can respond quickly to the changing climate crisis.

More Frequent and Responsible COP Meetings Are Needed

Experts call for change in their speeches and urge the UN to reconsider the COP election process to prevent another era of unbalanced and unfair COP meetings in the future based on the influence and desires of fossil fuel producers.

Additionally, accountability mechanisms should be established to ensure that countries’ commitments to reduce emissions and phase out fossil fuels are met.

Climate Crisis: Now is the Time to Act

Those who signed the letter state that action is needed both quickly and on a large scale, at a time when the world’s climate crisis is intensifying globally. Rockström says the situation of planet Earth is critical: Climate policies need to be implemented urgently, otherwise it will face dire impacts.

Experts argue, rightly on all counts, that despite many important steps taken at previous meetings of the COP, more needs to be done to keep the world below the “1.5°C limit for global warming” commitment negotiated under the Paris Agreement.

Next Steps: Urgent Call for Reform

The authors of the letter demand: Fundamental reform that emphasizes speed and action, addressing the urgent need for transformation of the COP process. They also emphasize that if the climate talks at the COP are not addressed with major revisions, this could eventually contribute to not taking the issue of the climate crisis seriously enough to protect future generations from devastating impacts.

(Contains input from online sources)

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