COP29 Opens in Baku: “We Need to Agree a Way Out of This Mess”

During the opening ceremony on 11 November, UNFCCC head Simon Stiell became emotional as he shared images of his neighbor’s home, devastated by Hurricane Beryl. “The parties need to agree on a way out of this mess. We must agree on a new global climate finance goal. If at least two thirds of the world’s nations cannot afford to cut emissions quickly, then we’ll pay a brutal price,” he said.

Recent data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows global temperatures have exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degrees Celsius for 14 consecutive months—a trend with deadly consequences.

Unprecedented flooding has contaminated water sources across South Sudan. Catastrophic rainfall has killed more than 200 people in Spain. Meanwhile, record-breaking droughts in Brazil are jeopardizing the lives of more than 420,000 children. No region remains untouched by these impacts, felt keenly through too much or too little water.

Why Water Matters to Every Climate Priority

Global leaders often make the mistake of approaching climate policy as a zero-sum game, where advancing one priority means sidelining another. However, it’s not about achieving one goal at the expense of others. It’s about remembering that development goals are intertwined. For example, food systems cannot function without water.

Water also has a strong role in the economy, said Henk Ovink, Executive Director of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water in an interview with The Water Diplomat. “A destabilized water-cycle is projected to reduce GDP by between 8 to 15% in the near future, undermining food security, energy security and a healthy environment.”

That’s why at COP29, the Water Pavilion is sounding the alarm: climate policy that doesn’t prioritize water is incomplete policy.

Water for Adaptation

Although the planet is experiencing a spike in climate-fueled disasters, “adaptation has not been given the same attention as mitigation.” said COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev. He highlighted Azerbaijan’s water woes which are affecting its agrarian economy. “The Caspian sea is shrinking and we are facing a freshwater loss in the Caucasus.”

Every 1°C of global mean temperature rise adds about 7% of moisture to the atmosphere, supercharging the hydrological cycle and making rainfall more erratic. Since 2000, flood-related disasters have increased by 134%, and the number and duration of droughts also increased by 29%.

The Global Goal on Adaptation, launched at COP28, highlights water as a key adaptation priority, but specific indicators to measure progress are still in development. Establishing effective global indicators is essential to monitor adaptation progress and to turn the framework’s ambitious goals into practical, impactful solutions. According to the Water for Climate Pavilion’s working group, experts convened by the UNFCCC need clear guidance to create indicators that are purposeful, efficient, and adaptable across regions.

A global adaptation framework for water could address multiple needs, including data collection, national and global monitoring, and specific roles and responsibilities for reporting. By aligning these new indicators with existing global frameworks—such as those for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—it is possible to reduce reporting burdens and streamline processes across climate and development efforts.

Water for Mitigation

Effective water and sanitation management can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, paving the way for more sustainable and resilient paths toward net-zero across multiple sectors. However, the integration of water into climate mitigation efforts has lagged, with water systems accounting for at least 10% of global emissions while receiving only a fraction—less than 2%—of global climate finance.

Sustainable freshwater management is essential for a clean energy transition and the protection of biodiversity. Furthermore, interdependencies link us across continents. “The Congo rains come from Brazil, water flows from Africa to Europe, from Europe to Asia, and so forth. We are all interconnected through water flows,” said Ovink.

Water also supports clean energy generation while reducing dependency on fossil fuels. For instance, hydropower and other renewable energy sources require stable, well-maintained freshwater supplies to function effectively. In this light, climate solutions that overlook water’s foundational role risk undermining the very resources that make sustainable change possible.

Nature-based water solutions, such as protecting and restoring peatlands, are powerful yet often invisible assets in the climate arsenal. Peatlands, wetlands, and other freshwater ecosystems are natural “carbon sinks,” reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the air. Yet, these ecosystems remain undervalued in climate strategies, and their preservation is scarcely addressed in national climate plans – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

A Time for Leadership and Action 

In the opening session of COP29, the sense of urgency among those gathered was clear.

“People are suffering in the shadows, dying in the dark,” said Babayev. “They need more than prayers and paperwork. They’re crying out for leadership and action.”