The IKI in 2024

An overview of some important focal points of the IKI Year 2024.

Wide-format illustration featuring the letters "IKI" and the number "2024," designed with sustainability elements. A high-rise building with solar panels and a climate change thermometer, a wind turbine, an electric scooter at a charging station, a person on a cargo bike, two people conversing, a green landscape with tropical plants, trees, and a river with a small bridge. Various animals, including a parrot, a heron, butterflies, and fish, represent biodiversity and nature conservation.

In 2024, there were two major events for the International Climate Initiative (IKI): the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 16) in October and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in November.

At the CBD COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) were able to reach an agreement on key decisions for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). These included key agreements on the tighter integration of nature conservation and climate action and on strengthening the role of indigenous peoples and local communities in biodiversity conservation. With regard to the upcoming CBD COP 17 in Armenia at the end of 2026, the Parties to the Convention must have revised their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and implemented them by then. The CBD COP 16 was successfully concluded at its continuation in Rome on 27 February 2025.

Likewise, they must have submitted initial progress of implementation to the CBD by means of national reports, since the COP 17 will place its focus on measuring the global progress of the implementation of the 4 status goals (2050 goals) and 23 action targets (2030 action targets) of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

CBD COP 16 topic page

Indoor view of the German Climate Pavilion at COP29. In the foreground, three round wooden standing tables. Behind them, a green moss wall with the glowing inscription “#German Climate Pavilion”. The walls are made of vertical wooden slats. People are walking down the aisle next to the pavilion.

Only a few days after the CBD COP in Colombia, all eyes turned to Azerbaijan. At the COP29 in Baku, the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed on a new financing goal. This New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) plans to mobilise a minimum of USD 300 billion per year from public, multilateral and private funds by 2035. Furthermore, the extension of the donor countries has induced a paradigm shift – albeit on a voluntary basis. The contributions of multilateral development banks, including those of emerging countries, are also wholly credited to climate finance.

At the same time, the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T” envisages the establishment of a process to align the global financial system in order to increase climate finance from all sources to USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035. After a period of almost ten years, negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement could also be finalised, enabling cross-border carbon markets for the support of global climate objectives.

The world needs specific, comprehensive and instantaneous mitigation actions by all states in order to keep the planned 1.5°C target achievable. Therefore, with a view to the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which each country is to submit in 2025, are of key importance.

COP 29 topic page

The IKI has long belonged to the internationally recognised partners at the COPs. This, of course, also applies to the key 2024 topics. For example, the funding programme is increasingly operating in the areas of global energy transition, decarbonisation of industry, strengthening of indigenous peoples and local communities or financing climate and biodiversity conservation. However, the support of ambitious NDCs has also belonged to the core tasks of the IKI for a long time.

The following chapter provides a compact overview of some priority areas of IKI activities in 2024. They do not represent all IKI support areas. For an overview of all IKI support areas, please visit the IKI funding priorities overview page.

Leveraging private sector investments

One focus of the IKI's work was to enable greater investment in climate- and biodiversity-friendly economic sectors and to leverage private funds.

A large coal power plant with four monumental cooling towers dominates the image. In the foreground, solar panels are mounted on a tilted structure, enclosed by a fence. Some trees and shrubs add greenery to the scene. The sky is partly cloudy.

Supporting the global energy transition

Implementing the global targets for renewable energies and energy efficiency agreed at the 2023 Climate Change Conference (COP28) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is a top priority for Germany.

A complex industrial structure at night, with various pipes and metal platforms visible. Steam rising from the factory contrasts against the dark sky. The image highlights the detailed architecture of a fertilizer production facility.

Pressing ahead with the decarbonisation of industry

The Climate Club aims to reorganise industrial processes worldwide in a climate-friendly way. The IKI is contributing to this with various measures.

A dense tropical rainforest with various shades of green. In the foreground, a large banana leaf with brown edges extends into the frame. Tall palm trees and other tropical plants cover the hillside, while in the background, rooftops of a few houses are visible through the dense foliage. The sky is misty and gray.

IKI work priorities in line with the results of the CBD COP 16

At the CBD COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, key decisions were taken to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The IKI's work priorities are already helping to achieve these goals.

Aerial view of a small, narrow boat with two people moving through dark water, leaving a gentle wake behind. The boat carries fresh green cargo, possibly plants or goods. In the water, long wooden barriers form a zigzag pattern—likely traditional fish traps. The image has a dramatic black-and-white aesthetic, with only the boat and its green cargo in color.

Strengthening resilience, securing water resources, promoting ecosystem-based solutions

In view of issues such as frequent extreme weather events, adaptation to climate change is becoming increasingly important. The IKI supports particularly vulnerable countries and regions.

IKI Annual Report 2024

This article is part of the IKI Annual Report 2024.

Learn more about the IKI Year 2024

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