As COP29 week 1 concludes in Baku, the excitement of high-level speeches has given way to the gritty business of negotiation. Welcome to COP29, where world leaders show up for a few days to promise the Earth (literally), and then leave the rest of us to sort out the details. It’s a bit like a New Year’s resolution—you start with enthusiasm, but by week two, reality sets in, and suddenly, “reduce emissions” feels as achievable as “learn Mandarin by June.”

But, we digress. The good news is that we’ve survived week one, and while there’s still plenty to be hashed out, it wasn’t all hot air and handshakes. So, let’s take a look at what went down during COP29 Week 1, minus the corporate buzzwords and climate fatigue. We promise it’s worth the read.

As with most COPs, this one quickly zeroed in on the topic that really makes the world go round—money. This year’s summit has already been dubbed the “Finance COP,” and it’s easy to see why. The main event isn’t just cutting emissions or rolling out shiny new technologies (though there’s a bit of that); it’s about figuring out who’s going to foot the bill for global climate action. Developing nations are making it clear they need more financial support, while wealthier countries are grappling with how to keep their promises without going broke. It’s a delicate dance, and so far, no one’s quite mastered the steps.

The Carbon Markets Saga: Progress, Sort Of

Day one kicked off with a win—or at least a half-win. Delegates managed to agree on standards for carbon markets under the elusive Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. In non-COP speak, this means countries can trade carbon credits to offset emissions and hopefully make some cash along the way, especially for developing nations. This is a big deal for financing climate goals and reducing emissions on a global scale, so, in theory, we’re on track.

But, like everything in climate negotiations, there’s a catch. By day four, the celebrations were slightly muted when delegates started picking apart a 43-page document that still had quite a few unresolved points. If this sounds tedious, it is—but it’s important. Once sorted, these rules could save countries a whopping $250 billion a year on their climate goals, so it’s worth sticking with it (we promise!). For now, though, we’re in “wait and see” mode as the clock ticks on finalising these crucial frameworks.

Money Talks: The Never-Ending Climate Finance Debate

If you’ve been following COP for any amount of time, you’ll know that climate finance is the real main event. This year, it’s all about a new New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)—essentially, how much money richer nations will commit to helping poorer ones tackle climate change. The target? $100 billion per year. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, it’s still not enough, and so far, developed countries have struggled to hit even that. Add to that a 34-page draft that’s ballooned with every nation’s wish list, and you’ve got a recipe for, shall we say, “vigorous” debate.

At the heart of this mess is a major tug-of-war: should the money come in the form of grants, or should developing countries be saddled with loans that will only push them further into debt? Unsurprisingly, countries like India and China have had enough of this “strings attached” approach and are calling for no-strings finance. But by day three, progress was slow. The document slimmed down to 25 pages, but it’s still full of unresolved points, like how to handle adaptation, loss and damage, and mitigation finance.

There’s a glimmer of hope, though: some are pushing for a more ambitious target of $300 billion a year by 2035, which could unlock an additional $1 trillion from private sources. Whether that’s wishful thinking or not, the negotiations will continue into next week, and we’ll have to see if any concrete numbers get pinned down. Fingers crossed!

Fossil Fuels Still Stirring Trouble

It wouldn’t be a COP summit without the shadow of fossil fuels looming large. Baku, this year’s host, has some awkward ties to the fossil fuel industry (you don’t say?), and that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Climate leaders like Ban Ki-Moon and Christiana Figueres have been calling for an overhaul of the COP process itself, saying it’s high time we excluded countries and industries that aren’t truly on board with transitioning away from fossil fuels. Considering that over 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists turned up to COP29 (including some big names from BP and Saudi Aramco), it’s not hard to see why people are getting frustrated.

Adding fuel to the fire, a Global Witness investigation found that Azerbaijan has been cutting fossil fuel deals on the side while hosting the summit. Talk about mixed messages. This kind of influence is why many are questioning whether COPs are still fit for purpose. A stricter vetting process for future hosts, perhaps?

Energy Day Brings Some Light

Now, it wasn’t all finance and frustration. The COP29 Presidency did manage to roll out some big energy initiatives during Energy Day. Among them: a Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge to increase energy storage to 1,500 GW by 2030 (a six-fold increase on current levels), and a massive effort to revamp 25 million kilometres of grids globally. The UK and Sweden quickly jumped on board with these pledges, showing some solid leadership in what was otherwise a finance-dominated first week.

And let’s not forget hydrogen. The COP29 Hydrogen Declaration aims to scale up clean hydrogen production, which could help reduce the nearly 100 million tonnes of hydrogen currently produced from fossil fuels. The world still has a long way to go on this front, but these steps are crucial for decarbonising key sectors.

What’s Next?

So, where does this leave us? As we wrap up COP29 Week 1 and head into Week 2, the focus will shift to hammering out the tougher details—particularly how to fund the climate action that developing nations so desperately need. There’s still a lot of disagreement, but with G20 members meeting in Rio next week, there’s hope for a breakthrough on finance. We might even see some movement on setting clearer rules for the carbon market.

For now, we’ll keep our eyes on the prize: real, actionable climate solutions that don’t just look good on paper. Stay tuned—it’s only going to get more interesting from here!

FEATURED IMAGE: Aziz Karimov/Getty Images