Reflecting on COP29
COP29 was the first COP that I attended in person, however, I had engaged with the process virtually during COP28. This year, I have learnt and participated in a lot of new things, including multilateral and bilateral negotiations, agreements from delegates/parties trying to influence each other, side events, media talks, and press briefings. I appreciate the Government of Azerbaijan & UNFCCC team for conducting such a big event in less than 8 months.
There is no good and bad COP. However, focusing on mental health, I have observed during multilateral negotiations and party meetings, lobbyings and also personal meetings with delegates from the parties, that mental health was on their agenda and they were discussing it broadly to address the integration of mental health stressors at the grassroots level.
While updating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is crucial, they must translate into actionable, enforceable policies for the low-middle income country (LMIC) context. The NDCs and non-NDCs actors are focused on the short-term plans for mental health services delivery. Delegates were not aware of the long-term programmes to address mental health in their country. Also, the impact of inflation remains a challenge for developing countries which will directly affect mental health in urban and rural populations.
Climate finance is an additional challenge for LMICs which directly impacts the country's development and mental health. This will be a significant challenge for the progress of developing countries at the upcoming COP30 in Brazil. In addition, we needed technically sound and strong finance negotiators to avoid double-counting the commitments of emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs) that are contributing to the $1.3 trillion goal needed to counter the impact of climate change.
Ultimately, vulnerable countries may be able to build up mechanisms to get grants - which is very tough for developing countries - to cope with their climate change and mental health issues. The ambitious climate targets highlight the difficulty developing countries face in accessing flexible climate finance, despite agreements on Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) and the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).
Key Recommendations:
Strong advocacy and awareness-raising campaigns calling for the integration of mental health at every level of healthcare services delivery to sensitise the multilateral parties and delegates were missing in COP29.
There should be a pavilion specifically for mental health advocacy and lobbying purposes at future convenings.
Written by Shoukat Baloch, Senior Public Health Specialist from the Department of Health Government of Balochistan, Pakistan