As COP29 came to a close last week, we reflect on our participation and the opportunity it provided to advance efforts that are core to our mission. Here are the key highlights:
We co-hosted a COP29 side event on “Renewable Energy and Peace” together with Stanley Center, Clingendael Institute, Stimson Center at ODI’s Climate, Peace and Transboundary Resilience Pavilion. This event was the third event in a series, building on meetings on this topic held in The Hague in June and in New York in September. Grateful to Norwegian Climate and Security Envoy Hans Olav Ibrekk for his opening remarks, and to our esteemed panelists from the Government of Bangladesh, International Crisis Group, REN21, Global Solar Council, and IRENA.
In advance of the event above, Stanley Center and EPP co-hosted an informal working dinner to explore mainstreaming the renewable energy and peace agenda into current and future COP discussions. Attendees represented institutions across the renewable energy, climate and peacebuilding fields, reflecting an emerging set of partners in the climate policy community who recognize the interlinkages between peace, security, and climate for whom the renewable energy and peace framing provides added value.
EPP participated in a roundtable on “Corporate Sourcing as a Catalyst for Clean Energy Finance,” co-hosted by AWS and the Global Renewables Alliance. Grateful to Jake Oster and Bruce Davidson for moderating a wide-ranging conversation, which included a discussion on flexible market boundaries, the value of expanding stakeholder community considering this issue and conducting further research into potential benefits.
This marked the third consecutive COP with an explicit focus on Peace as a thematic issue. We welcome the Baku Call for Peace, Relief and Recovery, which recognizes the interlinkages between conflict and climate change and calls for “peace-sensitive climate action, while scaling up support for the most vulnerable communities worldwide,” including through the creation of the Baku Climate and Peace Action Hub. However, there was no explicit mention of renewable energy, and there is much more to be done before the renewable energy and peace agenda is mainstreamed into climate discussions. We look forward to contributing our part in future climate discussions.