COP29: With less than three months to go before the UN COP29 climate summit, countries are still far from reaching a consensus on the critical issue of climate finance, still considered the most contentious task of the summit: setting a new financing target to support developing nations in their fight against climate change. Indeed, a document from the UN climate body released on Thursday shows major divisions among countries less than a month before the crucial meeting in Baku, where negotiators will try to bridge the gaps.
The document outlines seven possible options for a COP29 agreement, reflecting the different positions of participating countries. It could well replace the current commitment by rich countries to provide $100 billion a year in climate finance to developing countries.
Vulnerable and developing countries are pushing for a much higher target, while donor countries, including Canada and the European Union, counter that national budgets are already overstretched and that an ambitious increase in public funding is unrealistic.
“We have come a long way, but there are still clearly different positions that we need to overcome,” said Mukhtar Babayev, the incoming president of the COP29 summit and Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources. Babayev announced that the COP29 presidency will organize intensive negotiations on the financial target before the November summit in Baku.
One of the options included in the text is a proposal representing the position of Arab countries, calling for developed countries to provide $441 billion a year in grants, as well as a broader target of mobilizing $1.1 trillion a year from all sources, including private financing, between 2025 and 2029.
The EU’s negotiating position calls for a global climate finance target of more than $1 trillion a year, encompassing domestic investment and private finance, some of which should be provided by countries with high greenhouse gas emissions and substantial economic capacity. It has also insisted that China, the world’s biggest polluter and second-largest economy, should contribute to the new climate finance target. However, China is still classified as a developing country under a United Nations system established in the 1990s and continues to bristle at suggestions that it should be expected to contribute to climate finance, a burden that has always fallen on richer nations.
One of the biggest battles negotiators will face in the run-up to a financial deal at COP29 will be the question of who should contribute to the new funding target. Another option in the document, representing Canada’s view, says contributions should be linked to emissions and per capita income, a move that would include countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.