COP29

A fight is building at the United Nations climate talks over whether countries should recommit to last year’s historic pledge to transition away from fossil fuels.

COP29 is the biggest influx of visitors in the city’s history, and the government has done everything possible to present a positive experience.

In other news, Temasek-backed Pentagreen announced that it will manage Fast-P’s Green Investments partnership; the CPFIS investment scheme posts one-year returns of 14.71% in 3Q2024.

The Green Investments partnership seeks to bridge gaps in Southeast Asia’s sustainable infrastructure financing needs.

The Singapore government has also committed up to US$500 million in concessional funding to support the Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (Fast-P), which was announced last year.

Even before his election, the US was viewed as an unreliable climate ally, having failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol more than 20 years ago and deliver on promised financial contributions.

“At COP27 and COP28, governments rejected draft rules on carbon removal, warning that they could weaken climate action… Now, these rules are moving forward without the same scrutiny.

Environmental campaigners are sceptical that COP29 — which opened on Nov 11 in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku — will see major progress in slowing global warming.

Delegates failed to agree on a revised strategy to raise and distribute more funds to countries to protect nature. That raises doubts ahead of the global climate summit COP29, set to begin Nov 11.

Pre-COP allows parties to advance climate negotiations ahead of COP29, set to take place from Nov 11 to 22.