COP29, the annual United Nations climate change alert summit, ended in overtime last weekend with an agreement that obligates rich countries to invest $300 billion a year in “climate finance” over the next decade, an amount that is ludicrous. Environmentalists were furious, dismissing it as too small.
The $300 billion deal was $50 billion more than wealthy participants had proposed as of Friday, when the summit was expected to conclude. Nevertheless, some extreme weather activists believe that up to $1 trillion will be pledged to redistribute wealth from rich countries to “developing” countries and will be invested in mitigating the effects of climate change. I was expecting.
The parties agreed to an additional $50 billion after climate change agitators ridiculed the proposed $250 billion in public statements last week.
“The proposed target of mobilizing $250 billion per year by 2035 is totally unacceptable and insufficient to deliver the Paris Agreement,” said Ambassador Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s special envoy and chair of the African Group of Negotiators. Ta. said British leftist newspapers guardian. “$250 billion will result in an unacceptable loss of life in Africa and around the world, and will jeopardize the future of the world.”
“This latest draft of new joint quantitative targets is more than a joke. It is an insult to the billions of people in the Global South who live on the front lines of the climate crisis,” said Tasneem Essop, President of the International Climate Action Network. . , reportedly said. “The $250 billion annual public budget is peanuts, and instead of addressing real needs, we are doubling down on the $100 billion goal we never met.”
Reports from inside the event, organized by fossil fuel giant Azerbaijan, described activists as “bitter,” angry and ultimately disappointed. Bloomberg reports on the scene, provided It includes dramatic details, such as several countries withdrawing from the talks at one point and diplomats becoming frustrated by a lack of food in the conference room.
The COP event (officially known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC)) is an annual meeting where parties agree to commitments aimed at combating the climate crisis. The conference has become increasingly contentious as the United Nations has offered hosting obligations to countries with a vested interest in promoting the fossil fuel industry. Last year's COP28 was hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which awarded the chairmanship to Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
This year, host Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev opened COP29 by declaring oil and natural gas to be “gifts from God,” saying, “Countries should not be blamed for having them, Nor should they be blamed for bringing resources to Azerbaijan.” Because the market needs them. ”
COP29's main negotiating priority was to replace the current commitment by “developed countries” to invest $100 billion a year in climate finance, which expires in 2025. agreed We signed a deal to triple that investment.
“The agreement also included a broader goal to raise $1.3 trillion a year in climate finance by 2035,” German news agency Deutsche Welle reported. “This includes funding from both public and private sources, and economists say it is comparable to the amount needed each year to combat global warming.”
Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations declared He himself, in his remarks concluding this weekend's summit, said he was probably disappointed by the low funding.
“Developing countries are burdened with debt, hit by disasters, left out of the renewable energy revolution and in dire need of funding,” he argued. “An agreement at COP29 was absolutely essential to maintain the 1.5 degree limit, and countries have delivered.”
“We were hoping for a more ambitious outcome, both fiscal and mitigation, to address the great challenges we face,” he lamented, “but this agreement provides a foundation on which to build.” he added.
Guterres chided countries to act quickly to pool funds in accordance with the agreement. “Pledges must turn into cash quickly. All countries must come together to ensure that this new target ceiling is met.”
Agreement, Bloomberg observeddid not reveal exactly where that money should go.
“Going forward, contributions from India, China and other developing countries to multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank may become more important, reducing the amount expected from rich countries,” the media said. did. “What qualifies as climate finance remains unclear, even under an earlier agreement to provide $100 billion a year.”
“Climate finance” can take the form of interest-bearing loans, making it a lucrative option for rich countries and potentially disenfranchising poor, heavily indebted countries targeted by loans. , which has many in the environmental movement concerned.
Bloomberg said the parties negotiating the deal are hungry, “bitter” and desperate.
“Delegates continued to emerge from the final session with a mostly bleak picture of the outcome. Few negotiators considered themselves happy, and many said it left a bitter taste in their mouth. There were even more,” the newspaper reported. One group of countries withdrew from negotiations entirely, but eventually returned to the negotiating table and negotiated a $300 billion deal “for just a few billion dollars a year, rather than the $1 trillion or more that had been sought.” accepted.
The richest countries at COP29 were also disappointed after failing to add China, the world's worst polluter, and fossil fuel giants Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the group of countries expected to contribute $300 billion. It seems he has left.
