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The UN’s COP29 summit pushed for a US$250 billion international funding deal to help poor countries combat climate change, nudging almost 200 nations toward an agreement as fraught talks enter the final stretch.
A new negotiating text provided to delegates at the gathering in Azerbaijan following overnight attempts to bridge the deep differences that had spilled into public view on Thursday.
The new proposal called for rich nations to provide the US$250 billion annually by 2035, through a wide variety of sources, including public finance as well as bilateral and multilateral deals.
The proposal represents a more than doubling of an existing US$100 billion annual commitment that expires next year, but it would give another decade to reach the new target.
It drew a swift condemnation from climate activists in developing and vulnerable nations who have insisted for far more money as trillions of dollars are needed to deal with the consequences of decades of unchecked greenhouse gas emissions.
The remaining needs will need to come from private sectors — through loans and other innovative finance mechanisms.
Still, it showed negotiators closing in on a final deal that could prove acceptable to the wealthy nations expected to take the lead in providing climate finance.
“There is no deal to come out of Baku that will not leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, but we are within sight of a landing zone for the first time all year,” Avinash Persaud, special adviser on climate at the Inter-American Development Bank. “The US$250 billion commitment to be led by developed countries is short given adaptation needs alone.”
All told, the latest draft proposal called for countries to work together to enable total financing of at least US$1,3 trillion per year — the bulk of it in private financing — by the middle of the next decade. – Bloomberg
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