COP29: No, it's not a mediocre police series, but the name of the climate conference in Azerbaijan. COP ("Conference of the Parties") refers to the parties in the UN's climate convention. They meet every year, and the conference in Baku is the 29th in order.
UNFCCC: Abbreviation for the UN's climate convention (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) aimed at limiting global emissions. To sound extra knowledgeable, you say "U-N-F-triple-C" in English-speaking contexts.
IPCC: The UN's climate panel (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) that compiles the best available science on climate change.
The Paris Agreement: A legally binding agreement from 2015 that united the world's countries in a deal to tackle global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
NDC: Another abbreviation? This one is particularly important to keep track of in connection with the climate meeting. It deals with national climate commitments ("nationally determined contributions") that describe how different countries will achieve the Paris Agreement's goals. New, updated NDCs are to be submitted in February next year.
NCQG: Climate people can't get enough of abbreviations. NCQG is relevant at this year's "finance-COP" and deals with a new joint collection target for climate finance that will replace a previous one. The letter combination stands for New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.
1.5 degrees: Refers to the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees, preferably 1.5 degrees, compared to pre-industrial times. The world has already warmed up to 1.1 degrees and is rapidly approaching 1.5 degrees, according to the UN's climate panel.
Negative emissions: Does not refer to emissions with a bad attitude, but rather to absorbing, collecting, or otherwise taking care of carbon dioxide that has already been released into the atmosphere. This can include reforestation, carbon capture from biofuels, and capturing carbon dioxide from the air. Also known as minus emissions.
Net-zero emissions: The pursuit of reducing emissions as much as possible and compensating for what is still released with negative emissions.
Anthropogenic emissions: Emissions caused by humans, as opposed to emissions that occur naturally.
Carbon sinks: Something that long-term captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by binding it. Forests, wetlands, and oceans are examples of carbon sinks.
Climate finance: Rich countries previously promised $100 billion per year to developing countries to help them reduce emissions and manage climate change. Now, a new figure is to be set under the abbreviation NCQG.
Emissions markets (carbon markets): Simply put, it's about companies and countries compensating for their emissions by buying emission rights from those who remove or reduce emissions.
Unep: The UN's environmental organization, which coordinates the UN's environmental work. Responsible, among other things, for a range of reports on emissions.
WMO: The World Meteorological Organization is a UN agency that monitors the planet's weather, atmosphere, and ocean conditions.
Mitigation (dampening measure): When it comes to climate, the English word "mitigation" simply means emission reductions.
Adaptation (adaptation): Deals with how the world's countries can adapt to the effects of climate change. This can include developing systems that can provide early warnings for floods or building barriers to tackle rising sea levels.
Loss and damage (losses and damages): Costs for climate-related (e.g., storms, floods, and fires) damages and losses for particularly vulnerable countries.
