COP29 needs to mobilize trillions, not billions of dollars to meet 1.5C goal: UN human rights office

The UN human rights office on Tuesday urged COP29 to mobilize trillions of dollars rather than billions to limit temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

"We need COP29 to mobilize trillions – not billions – of dollars in climate finance to keep the increase in global average temperature under 1.5 degrees Celsius, and to catalyze more ambitious national climate commitments," spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told a UN press briefing in Geneva as COP29 in Baku is now in its second and final week.

Laurance said that those who have contributed the most to climate change to date should "pay more," and those most affected by climate change must have the funds they need to build resilience to climate change and access to effective remedies.

"These are urgent human rights priorities," he said.

"This makes it all the more concerning that there has been a discernible lack of progress on many vital issues so far at COP29, and even some efforts to backtrack on previously agreed human rights language," he added.