COP29: Reflections on the glacial pace of proceedings

On the second week of COP29, Jamie William’s, Islamic Relief’s Senior Advisor on Poverty Reduction, perceives a lack of urgency incongruent with the pressing demands of the climate emergency.

As the world heats, the glaciers at the poles and in the highest mountains are beginning to melt away. Along with so many references in literature, poetry and folklore, their disappearance will deprive us of the analogy drawn from the extremely slow pace of these mighty rivers of ice as they flow to the sea: glacial progress.

But the glaciers remain here at COP29. In the negotiation rooms things are moving, but so slowly that you don’t notice until you return after a time away to see the document texts are not quite the same as they were.

These are the decisions that will come out of this conference and will eventually settle how much and what kind of support people throughout the world will get to help them adapt to the changes in store as global heating continues and the climate breaks down.

It is hard to be patient. Already the most vulnerable people and those on the margins are dealing with climate emergencies, adding to their poverty and suffering. 

They need that help now so they can begin to work their way through what is happening to them now, and plan for what will happen as the crisis deepens. 

They need capacity, technology, but most of all money. And this conference is meant to make sure they get it. The resources are there – if countries stop paying subsidies to oil and gas companies, tax these companies’ profits and the extreme wealth of the few and divert funding from weaponry and war. There are plenty of resources to cover what’s needed, and more.

Only now we are told, “wait until next year, or the year after.” The glacier might have moved by then. But the real glaciers are melting, and when they are gone and sea levels have risen and meltwater has flooded and certainties of water for farming and drinking and living are lost, then it will be too late.

And it will very soon be too late. All that we can do as Islamic Relief to help communities prepare and adapt, we will.

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Author photo: Simon Chambers/ACT