The CoP29 presidency and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have held high-level energy transition dialogues to support the climate summit. Co-chaired by IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and CoP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, the dialogue involves the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).

The meetings are a continuation of the successful series at CoP28 in Dubai and aim to share actions to align with the pathway to drive the two key goals.

One of the major discussions at the UN Climate Conference (CoP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan will focus on building international consensus around pathways to drive energy sector emissions to net-zero and limit global warming to 1.5 °C.

The IEA’s work to support CoP29 includes helping countries translate the energy pledges made at CoP28 into actionable measures and guiding energy sector ambitions for the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

At CoP29, the IEA will engage with energy and climate stakeholders across different sectors to share lessons learned and build consensus on key actions to advance global energy transitions.

The IEA is also convening stakeholders and sharing analysis, reports, and expertise to support additional bold energy outcomes at COP29, action to drive down methane emissions and making 2024 a turning point on access to clean cooking.

The IEA and CoP29 presidency high-level energy transition dialogues have brought together energy and climate leaders from around the world, hosted a ministerial-level event on methane action and a series of regional workshops.

Achieving access to affordable and clean energy is indispensable to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Achieving this goal (SDG7) is high on the agenda of political discussions at COP29 in Baku.

A Global Stocktaking on Sustainable Energy (SDG) report in April 2024 was mandated by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to review the progress achieved after the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (2014-2024).

The stocktaking was expected to raise ambition, accelerate action, and to scale up partnerships following the high-level dialogue on energy in September 2021. Progress has been made in achieving energy access and boosting renewables, but the word is still not on track to achieve SDG7.

Therefore, the stocktaking focused on ways to achieve an acceleration in action after lack of finance was identified as a key barrier to the clean energy transition.

The need for clean cooking solutions continues to be an echoed priority, as it is important for the health and well-being of populations.

UNGA President Dennis Francis said the world had embraced the principle and the necessity for and potential of sustainable energy. He highlighted positive trends such as the rise in renewables-based energy capacity in developing countries, which reached 38 per cent in 2021.

Additionally, he noted an increase in global access from 87 per cent to 91 per cent and in access to clean cooking fuels from 64 per cent to 71 per cent.

Francis, however, underlined that the pace of energy transformations is still much too slow and benefits are not shared equitably, with 473 million people in the least developed countries, most in Africa, still lacking electricity access and over 2 billion people continuing to rely on harmful fuels for their cooking needs.

UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy Damilola Ogunbiyi, stated that 685 million people lack access to electricity and 2.1 billion lack access to clean cooking solutions.