Reflections on COP29 in Baku by Chiel Boonstra

One key moment for ISES in 2024 was the participation at COP29. Learn about ISES Treasurer Chiel Boonstra's reflections:

Looking backwards to my full week at COP 29 in Baku resulting in enthusiasm and increased motivation to pursue the 100% renewables agenda in future work. It was a pleasure to announce the Solar World Congress 2025 in Brazil from 04 to 07 November 2025, just one week in advance of COP30 in Brazil.

I have visited COP29 to represent the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and run a booth for ISES. As UNFCC accredited organization we are allowed in the so-called Blue Zone, where also the media presentations take place. We happily shared the booth with Solar Cookers International and could tell a common message to our audience.

Discussions with visitors confirmed what ISES stands for. With its roots in the scientific world, two scientific journals, and two major conferences it has a standing reputation among national COP negotiation teams. Scientific information is the ground for political decisions. The networking strengths of the ISES InCoRE program among new graduate, postgraduate students and young professionals offer value. Moreover, ISES has the potential to build upon its position as an independent membership organization. We found strong interest from people and organizations from the Global South. There are opportunities for bottom-up activities and collaborative actions and projects.

COP29 reconfirmed the network of networks, and the potential for global collaboration among networks. None of the NGO’s can achieve their goals on their own. COP29 gave the opportunity to rethink the role of ISES, and bring these thoughts back to the ISES Board. Questions are to consider what is unique for ISES and what can best be done with others. COP29 was an excellent platform for meeting peers and experiencing the need for action.

It is commonly understood that the formal negotiations have resulted in some progress but not enough to ensure a sustainable pathway to stay within the 1.5 degrees target of the Paris Agreement. The agreed funding for developing countries suffering from Climate Change seems to be way too little to overcome impacts to their people, infrastructure and economies.

In total around 60,000 people have visited the COP29 events. The UN and the hosting country Azerbeijan have done a great job to logistically organize COP29 in a smooth manner. Most impressive was the global representation of so many NGO's and international organizations and the activist atmosphere around many side events.