- These countries had requested more than $1 trillion in aid to truly address the complexities of the climate crisis.
BAKU: Countries attending the United Nations climate conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday adopted a global financial target of $300 billion a year to help developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change, an agreement that its recipients denounced as “an insult”, according to the UN.
Developing countries, which had requested more than $1 trillion in aid to truly address the complexities of the climate crisis, have expressed deep disappointment at the outcome of the talks which reached a controversial outcome.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed his disappointment in a social media post, saying he “had hoped for a more ambitious outcome, both on financing and mitigation, to meet the great challenge we face.”
He said: “The agreement is a foundation on which to build. It must be honored in full and on time. Commitments must quickly turn into cash.
After the agreement was adopted, one developing country speaker after another attacked the document in furious statements.
“Chaotic, poorly managed and a complete failure in terms of the ambition required. »
After two weeks of intense negotiations, delegates at COP29, officially the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), agreed to provide this funding annually, with an overall goal of climate finance expected to reach at least $1.3 trillion by 2035.
According to them, this is the amount that must be invested in the energy transition of low-income countries, in addition to what these countries already spend, to keep the increase in the average temperature of the planet below 1.5 degree Celsius.
Beyond that threshold, scientists say, global warming will become more dangerous and harder to reverse.
The countries also agreed on the rules for a UN-backed global carbon market, the UN said. This market will facilitate the trading of carbon credits, incentivizing countries to reduce their emissions and invest in climate-friendly projects.
These are important questions that were decided as the summit, which has been taking place since November 12 in the huge Baku stadium in the Azerbaijani capital, entered into double overtime. Another example was the expansion of a program focused on gender and climate change.
This summit was dubbed the COP on climate finance, and representatives from all countries sought to set a new, higher target for climate finance.
The target, or new collective quantified target (NCQG), will replace the existing $100 billion target which is due to expire in 2025.
In the final days of COP29, negotiating teams from developed and developing countries found themselves deadlocked over a final deal, with reports that representatives from least developed countries and the Alliance of Small States Islanders (AOIS) had left the talks.
For some vulnerable countries, this represents a glimmer of hope, but only if commitments are translated into rapid action. Pledges must quickly turn into cash, the Secretary-General stressed, urging all countries to work together to reach the upper limit of the new financial target.
Beyond financing, COP29 built on previous achievements in terms of emissions reduction targets, the acceleration of the energy transition and a long-sought agreement on carbon markets. These advances come despite an uncertain and divided geopolitical landscape, which threatens to derail the negotiations.
The UN chief praised negotiators for finding common ground, noting: “You have shown that multilateralism – centered on the Paris Agreement – can find a way through the most difficult issues.”
UN climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell described the new financial target agreed at COP29 as an insurance policy for humanity.
This agreement will help sustain the clean energy boom and protect billions of lives. This will help all countries share the enormous benefits of bold climate action: more jobs, stronger growth, cheaper and cleaner energy for all. But like any insurance policy – it only works if the insurance premiums are paid in full, and on time.
He acknowledged that no country got everything it wanted and that the world leaves Baku with a mountain of work to do. So now is not the time for victory laps. We must target and redouble our efforts towards the eastern Amazon region of Brazil, which is expected to host COP30 next year.
While some delegations applauded the agreement, others, particularly those from the developing world, expressed deep disappointment at what they called an insulting funding target and that the agreed text did not failed to build on an agreement passed last year calling on nations to move away. from fossil fuels.
A representative from a group of small island nations said: After COP29 ends, we cannot just sail into the sunset. We are literally going under, and the results of the conference highlighted the very different situation our vulnerable countries find themselves in compared to developed countries.
Taking a different tone, a representative from the European Union delegation said the new climate finance target would simply bring a lot more private money to the table, and that’s what we need. And with these funds, we are confident that we will reach the goal of 1.3 trillion.
