ecbi has published a Discussion Note, highlighting some of the contentious issues in advance of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. COP29 is expected to deliver on key decisions, which are necessary for advancing achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement, including those related to the new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG), the mitigation work programme (MWP) and ambition in countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs), the just transition work programme (JTWP), the global stocktake (GST) outcomes, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and the global goal on adaptation (GGA), and matters related to loss and damage. The discussions will be key for informing the preparation of the next round of NDCs, which Parties to the Paris Agreement are expected to submit in February 2025. These are critical to not only keeping the temperature rise trajectory to 1.5°C, but also in operationalising the COP troika Presidencies’ Roadmap to Mission 1.5°C. The key question in this regard is how Parties will respond to the calls formulated in the decision on the first GST, especially in terms of mitigation.  With respect to the NCQG, one of the most important and closely watched issues for COP29, key divergences relate to, among others, envisioned contributors, recipients, and quantum—that is the ultimate magnitude of the goal, which many developing countries expect to be in the range of USD 1.3 trillion per year.