Parties), held in November 2025 in Baku, UKAS continues to strengthen its commitment to support and help scale up global climate action through accreditation. Attending for the second consecutive year, UKAS aimed to ensure that the role of accreditation is seen as a key part of the climate dialogue, showcasing its value in delivering trust in the credibility of environmental, energy, and sustainability (EES) efforts.
The significance of COP29
COP29, dubbed the “Finance COP,” was a pivotal event in the global climate agenda. Against a backdrop of geopolitical complexities, shifting power dynamics, and constrained fiscal space, COP29 convened countries to drive forward the commitments of the Paris Agreement. The event’s outcomes laid essential groundwork for momentum heading into COP30 in Brazil. Themes such as scaling up finance for a just transition, accelerating decarbonisation, enhancing resilience, and increasing Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) ambition took centre stage.
Key outcomes from COP29
- Commitment to cooperation: Despite significant geopolitical challenges, an overwhelming majority of countries reached an agreement to build momentum towards COP30. This outcome, though limited in scope, underscores the importance of sustained collaboration.
- Emerging initiatives: Promising partnerships and initiatives were launched to drive decarbonisation efforts, particularly in the power sector. These initiatives, while outside formal negotiation processes, demonstrate the growing role of non-state actors in climate action.
- Next steps: The agreement on funding climate actions, while seen by many as lacking, enables a further focus on climate finance, accelerating mitigation effort, and enhancing resilience to climate impacts. These priorities will carry into the COP30 discussions, and beyond.
UKAS’s presence and representation
UKAS’s attendance at COP29 reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with the international accreditation and quality infrastructure (QI) community, policy makers, business and climate leaders, to profile the critical role of QI tools in delivering on ambitious climate and broader sustainability targets. Representing the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), UKAS External Affairs Director Richard Collin and Sector Specialist for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Maria Varbeva-Daley participated in high-profile discussions and events that highlighted the importance of accreditation in enabling credible climate action.
UKAS’s and IAF’s COP29 key messages also emphasised:
- The role of accreditation in ensuring the reliability of emissions data and broader sustainability reporting/disclosures information.
- How accreditation drives trust and transparency in climate initiatives, enabling governments, businesses, and other stakeholders to plan, action and communicate their climate commitments.
UKAS’s key activities at COP29
Maria Varbeva-Daley represented the IAF at its official side event titled “Building Trust and Scaling Action through the International Standards System for a Just Transition,” hosted in collaboration with the University of Oxford, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), and UKAS’s national QI partner BSI (British Standards Institution). This event underscored how international standards and accredited conformity assessment can support a just transition to net zero. This includes strategic efforts to develop the necessary frameworks, competencies, capacity, and expertise required to deliver credible and consistent assurance against climate-related standards. A key focus is on preparing to support the forthcoming ISO net zero standard through accredited assurance..
Richard Collin participated in a panel at the International Renewable Energy Agency’s launch of its Green Hydrogen Quality Infrastructure Roadmap, where he highlighted the critical role of accreditation in ensuring the reliability and scalability of hydrogen technologies and the development of robust green hydrogen supply chains. He also contributed to a workshop hosted by ISO, advocating for a cohesive “standards story” for governments that integrates all aspects of the quality infrastructure.
Reflections and next steps
Maria shared her thoughts on the significance of the event: “UKAS’s presence in Baku built on our attendance at COP28 last year in Dubai. Every COP is important as it provides representatives from governments, civil society, and businesses with the opportunity to continue and scale up the climate conversation. This time, agreements relating to carbon markets were finalised, which is significant to accreditation, and the UK took centre stage with a commitment to reduce carbon by 81 per cent by 2035.”
Richard added: “Neither standards nor accreditation have the recognition they need in this area. By being present at COP28 and COP29, Maria and I have raised awareness of accreditation as a tool to enable the net zero transition by providing confidence in markets and to governments. We don’t have time to wait for the market to come to the quality infrastructure.”
Looking ahead, UKAS will:
- Contribute to international discussions and initiatives in the lead-up to COP30 in Brazil, ensuring that accreditation continues to play a pivotal role in global climate action.
- Build on the conversations, partnerships and momentum from COP29 to further enhance the profile and stakeholder understanding of the value of EES accreditation.
- Support the development and implementation of innovative accreditation solutions aligned with emerging climate and sustainability challenges.