The ECOWAS Commission to Participate in the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The ECOWAS Commission is participating in the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is being held from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The institution is represented by a delegation led by Mrs. Massandjé TOURE-LITSE, Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture and Mr. Sediko DOUKA, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalization, accompanied by the technical staff of the Directorates of Environment and Natural Resources, and Energy and Mines as well as the Water Resources Management Center and the ECOWAS Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.

All ECOWAS member states are participating. COP 29 was opened on 11 November 2024 by COP 29 President Mukhtar Babayev, stressing that this COP is an “unmissable moment” and called for the establishment of a new quantified collective objective on fair and ambitious finance, which sends a strong signal to financial markets.

On 12 and 13 November 2024, the World Leaders’ Summit for Climate Action took place, where Heads of State and Government took turns to make statements calling for more climate action to keep global temperatures below 1.5°C as stipulated in the Paris Agreement. On the sidelines of this high-level summit, technical negotiations are continuing on key issues, including Article 6 on carbon markets and the new quantified collective objective on climate finance and adaptation. These discussions should lead to decisions at the end of COP 29.

The ECOWAS Commission delegation is taking the opportunity of this global climate conference to organize bilateral meetings and contribute to side events to highlight climate actions by member states to meet their commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.

To this end, a bilateral meeting was organized on November 12, 2024 with the Spanish Cooperation to discuss opportunities for collaboration in the areas of energy and water with an ECOWAS delegation led by Commissioner Sédiko. Douka .

In the same vein, Mrs. Massandjé TOURE-LITSE, Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, took part in the presentation ceremony of the portfolio of projects towards Côte d’Ivoire held on November 14, 2024. This ceremony was chaired by the Vice-President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, His Excellency Mr. Tiémoko Meyliet KONE. The ceremony was an opportunity for Côte d’Ivoire to present to partners the green projects developed as part of its climate commitments. The project portfolio includes 300 projects with a total cost of 14.2 billion US dollars, of which 53 projects are mature and ready to be financed. The partners present (FAO, UNDP, AFD, BOAD) welcomed this initiative and showed their willingness to support the country in mobilizing resources to finance these projects.

Following this ceremony, the ECOWAS delegation met with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) which is the flagship organization of the United Nations system dedicated to facilitating access to finance and catalyzing the mobilization of private and public capital for sustainable development. It was discussed to establish a framework for collaboration with this United Nations institution through its regional office based in Dakar, Senegal, with a view to mobilizing resources for the financing of projects in the areas of energy, climate change and agriculture.

The delegation also organized on 15 November 2024, ECOWAS organized a joint side event with CILSS on the theme of “West African carbon market initiatives”. This event allowed the Commission, ECREEE and CILSS to present some initiatives undertaken by West African regional institutions related to the carbon market and to share experiences with participants. In addition to regional experiences, the example of Côte d’Ivoire in setting up national carbon market governance structures was presented as a case study.

Prior to this side event, the delegation met on the same day with BURN Manufacturing , which promotes improved cookstoves across Africa, and Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings, a carbon market rating company. The discussions focused on opportunities for collaboration, respectively, in clean energy and the establishment of institutional frameworks and carbon market governance structures for which ECOWAS initiated the process this year.

The ECOWAS delegation is continuing bilateral meetings and organizing side events in order to increase the visibility of the institution and highlight the actions and achievements of the Community in terms of climate action at this global climate conference.