Amidst global conflict and political uncertainty, COP29 begins on Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan.

This year’s summit is being called ‘the finance COP’, where agreeing a new climate finance goal is top of the agenda. This financial goal, called the ‘new collective quantified goal’ (NCQG), will be an update to the $100 billion per year target set at Copenhagen’s COP15 in 2009. That goal took 13 years to meet, delayed from the original target.

Setting the new financial goal is likely to be a push and pull between different interests at COP, but there is hope from many that a new NCQG will take into account the needs and priorities of developing countries, where the climate crisis is estimated to cost between $500 billion and $1 trillion a year.

‘COP29 continues the critical conversation on how to ensure that all countries benefit from the clean energy transition,’ Jonathan Pershing, environment program director at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, told Alliance.

‘While wealthier countries (particularly in the Global North) are expected to commit to continuing — and growing — funding for climate progress at home and abroad, these efforts alone won’t meet the more than $1 trillion needed annually to transition to a clean energy future. To do that will require significant new private capital and investment. This will occur as the wider corporate community increasingly sees and takes advantage of the economic potential of clean energy technologies and the viability of investing in the Global South. Such investments will boost their bottom line and tackle climate challenges while strengthening local economies around the world.

‘Philanthropy can and should play a key role in making this case. Hewlett looks forward to supporting this broader dialogue.’

COP29 also begins in the political context of elections in the US this week, where Donald Trump was just re-elected. During his last presidency, Trump’s policies were a setback for climate, including his formal withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate agreement. Analysts expect his second term will be more bad news for the planet, especially if he ends tax credits for renewable energy as has been outlined in his Project 2025 policy platform.

‘There is no denying that another Trump presidency will stall national efforts to tackle the climate crisis and protect the environment,’ said Dan Lashof, US Director at the World Resources Institute. ‘But most US state, local, and private sector leaders are committed to charging ahead. And you can count on a chorus of world leaders confirming that they won’t turn their back on climate and nature goals.’

We’ll see how far world leaders are ready to push the climate agenda ahead next week.

For those attending the COP who want to follow philanthropy’s contribution there, the global movement #PhilanthropyForClimate has compiled a list of sector events happening in Baku. And you can keep up with Alliance’s coverage of COP29, including philanthropy news, analysis, and opinion, at alliancemagazine.org/cop29.

Elika Roohi is the project lead of ClimatePhilanthropy2030, Alliance magazine’s climate initiative.