An activist stands during a closing plenary meeting at the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
BAKU (Reuters): Countries at the COP29 summit in Baku adopted a US$300bil-a-year global finance target on Sunday (Nov 24) to help poorer nations cope with the impacts of climate change, a deal its intended recipients criticised as woefully insufficient.
The agreement, clinched in overtime at the two-week conference in Azerbaijan's capital, was meant to provide momentum for international efforts to curb global warming in a year destined to be the hottest on record.
Some delegates gave the deal a standing ovation in the COP29 plenary hall. Others lambasted wealthy nations for not doing more and criticized the Azerbaijan host for hurriedly gavelling through the contentious plan.
"I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion," Indian delegation representative Chandni Raina told the closing session of the summit, minutes after the deal was gavelled in. "This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document."
United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell acknowledged the difficult negotiations that led to the agreement, but hailed the outcome as an insurance policy for humanity against global warming.
"It has been a difficult journey, but we've delivered a deal," Stiell said. "This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing and protect billions of lives."
"But like any insurance policy - it only works - if the premiums are paid in full, and on time."
The agreement would provide US$300bil annually by 2035, boosting rich countries' previous commitment to provide US$100bil per year in climate finance by 2020. That earlier goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025.
The deal also lays the groundwork for next year's climate summit, to be held in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, where countries are meant to map out the next decade of climate action.
The summit cut to the heart of the debate over financial responsibility of industrialized countries - whose historic use of fossil fuels has caused the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions - to compensate others for worsening damage from climate change.
It also laid bare divisions between wealthy governments constrained by tight domestic budgets and developing nations reeling from costs of storms, floods and droughts.
Negotiations had been due to finish on Friday, but ran into overtime as representatives from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach consensus. Talks were interrupted Saturday as some developing countries and island nations walked away in frustration.
"We are leaving with a small portion of the funding climate-vulnerable countries urgently need. It isn’t nearly enough, but it’s a start," said Tina Stege, Marshall Islands climate envoy.
Nations have been seeking financing to deliver on the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels - beyond which catastrophic climate impacts could occur.
The world is currently on track for as much as 3.1C (5.6F) of warming by the end of this century, according to the 2024 UN Emissions Gap report, with global greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuels use continuing to rise.
Sunday's deal failed to set out detailed steps for how countries will act on last year's U.N. climate summit pledge to transition away from fossil fuels and triple renewable energy capacity this decade. Some negotiators said Saudi Arabia had attempted to block such a plan during the talks.
"There's definitely a challenge in getting greater ambition when you're negotiating with the Saudis," said US climate advisor John Podesta.
A Saudi official did not immediately provide comment.
What counts as a developed nation?
The roster of countries required to contribute - about two dozen industrialised countries, including the United States, European nations and Canada - dates back to a list decided during UN climate talks in 1992.
European governments have demanded others pay in, including China, the world's second-biggest economy, and oil-rich Gulf states. The deal encourages developing countries to make contributions but does not require them to do so.
The agreement includes a broader goal of raising US$1.3 trillion in climate finance annually by 2035 - which would include funding from all public and private sources and which economists say matches the sum needed to address global warming.
Countries also agreed on rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits that proponents say could mobilise billions more dollars into new projects to fight global warming, from reforestation to deployment of clean energy technologies.
Securing the climate finance deal was a challenge from the start.
Donald Trump's US presidential election victory this month has raised doubts among some negotiators that the world's largest economy would pay into any climate finance goal agreed in Baku. Trump, a Republican who takes office in January, has called climate change a hoax and promised to again remove the U.S. from international climate cooperation.
Western governments have seen global warming slip down the list of national priorities amid surging geopolitical tensions, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, the expanding conflict in the Middle East and rising inflation.
The showdown over financing for developing countries comes in a year scientists predict will be the hottest on record. Climate woes are stacking up, with widespread flooding killing thousands across Africa, deadly landslides burying villages in Asia, and drought in South America shrinking rivers.
Developed countries have not been spared. Torrential rain triggered floods in Valencia, Spain, last month that left more than 200 dead, and the United States so far this year has registered 24 billion-dollar disasters - just four fewer than last year.
What are countries saying?
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell (in a statement)
"It has been a difficult journey, but we've delivered a deal. This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
"This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing and protect billions of lives. It will help all countries to share in the huge 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 premiums are paid in full, and on time. No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps."
India representative Chandi Rania
"We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfil their responsibilities."
"I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion. This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document."
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres
"I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome - on both finance and mitigation - to meet the great challenge we face. But this agreement provides a base on which to build. It must be honoured in full and on time. Commitments must quickly become cash."
Bolivia representative Diego Pacheco Balanza (speaking via a translator)
"We need a finance which will properly grant us the resources we need to take steps. The finance that is hugely below our requirements is an insult and it is a flagrant violation of justice and climate equity.
"Climate finance, as it stands in this agreement, is extinguishing international cooperation. We are moving on from the time of leaving of no-one behind to an era of let every man save himself."
British Energy Minister Ed Miliband (in a statement)
"This is a critical eleventh-hour deal at the eleventh hour for the climate. It is not everything we or others wanted but is a step forward for us all."
"Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable. It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment."
Marshall Islands Climate Envoy Tina Stege (in a statement)
"We came in good faith, with the safety of our communities and the well-being of the world at heart. Yet, we have seen the very worst of political opportunism here at this COP, playing games with the lives of the world's most vulnerable people.
"Fossil fuel interests have been determined to block progress and undermine the multilateral goals we’ve worked to build. This can never be allowed to happen.
"Despite the barriers, we’ve fought hard and secured something for our communities. We are leaving with a small portion of the funding climate-vulnerable countries urgently need.
"It isn’t nearly enough, but it’s a start, and we’ve made it clear that these funds must come with fewer obstacles so they reach those who need them most. We have also rejected those who sought to undo the agreements we made on phasing out fossil fuels."
Saudi Arabia representative, speaking on behalf of The Arab Group
"The Arab Group ... sees that we need to further confirm the basic principles in the efforts of mitigation as part of our Paris Agreement work and the UNFCCC.
"Such principles include equity and common-but-differentiated responsibilities, as well as insistence on the importance of developing states leading these efforts globally.
"This also includes a recognition of the various tracks that do reflect the various conditions and capabilities of each state, as well as the importance of respect and sovereignty of each nation, and also the ambition in the NDCs, which are the fulcrum and the backbone of the Paris Agreement, as they reflect the ambitions as well as the aspirations and conditions of every State."
"We need to enable countries to be able to delineate their own tracks."
"We also must be cognizant that one solution could not fix all the various challenges that we face collectively as we go on our development journey."- Reuters
