draft text released On Friday, environmental negotiators at the United Nations' COP29 climate change alert summit will ask rich countries to commit to giving $250 billion a year to poorer countries between now and 2035.
Climate change activists were furious at the proposed donation, calling the amount “insignificant” and a “joke”.
COP29, officially the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC), is the 19th session of the United Nations' official General Assembly to discuss how to address the alleged climate crisis globally. The talks are currently being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, and are scheduled to end on Friday, but the UN itself says that as things stand, disagreements over the provisions of the outcome document “will ensure that this round of talks will be pushed into the weekend.” That's what it means. news service.
It is not uncommon for police officers to work overtime. Last year's COP28, hosted by Dubai, was also extended beyond its scheduled deadline after parties to the draft agreement failed to agree to persuade all participants to abandon fossil fuels. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the world's most formidable oil powers, awarded Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber the summit chairmanship. The move has alarmed and infuriated environmentalists around the world, calling the United Nations “greenwashing,” or pretending to be concerned about climate change policy for propaganda purposes, with the aim of eradicating widespread use of fossil fuels. I blamed him for not doing so.
COP29 has faced harsh criticism, as has Azerbaijan's economy's heavy dependence on natural gas. Baku plans to dramatically expand natural gas exports to Western Europe to fill the void left by sanctions against Russia following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev exacerbated existing anger among climate activists with a speech. He opened the summit by declaring that fossil fuels are “a gift from God.”
“Oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver and copper are all natural resources and countries should not be blamed for having them, nor should they be blamed for bringing these resources to market. “Because the market needs them,'' he declared.
But the latest outrage is the amount of money that the parties drafting the COP29 outcome have agreed to give rich countries to poorer countries to combat alleged climate change. As reported by UN News Resources, COP29 drafters have decided that parties can donate to poorer countries to meet larger “global climate finance targets” to prevent ongoing global warming. I'm hoping they can come up with an amount.
“This goal, the New Collective Quantitative Goals (NCQG), is considered one of the summit's key deliverables. It will replace the existing $100 billion target, which expires in 2025,” UN News noticed. As of Thursday, the two parties agreed to raise “at least $1.3 trillion” through 2035, but no details were provided about where that money would come from.
Friday, Reuters reported The latest draft agreement calls for developed countries to donate $250 billion a year to poor countries in the name of climate finance. The report does not specify how it will identify the richest countries, but it lists “the European Union, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, Canada and New Zealand as likely victims of climate finance. , Switzerland. Notably, China, the world's worst polluter and second largest economy, is not on the list. Despite being extremely wealthy, China defines itself as a “developing” country.
Reuters reports that “developing” countries are not required to fund the program, and there is no guarantee that “developing” countries will not be stripped of their “developing” status if they contribute voluntarily toward funding targets, such as China and Brazil. He explained that this is a “red line that must not be crossed'' for the country's allies.
Riaz Hamidullah, a Bangladeshi foreign ministry official, told Reuters that current negotiations on the deal are “similar to haggling in a fish market” and are likely to involve messy and aggressive deliberations. suggested sex.
Environmentalists and representatives of less developed countries at COP29 were furious after news that contributions would reach $250 billion a year.
“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.”
The Paris Agreement is a global instrument that imposes climate change demands on parties. President-elect Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate accord during his first term, and outgoing President Joe Biden reinstated Washington's commitments as part of the deal. President Trump is expected to withdraw from the agreement again when he returns to the White House in January, leaving many COP29 participants concerned that Biden's enthusiasm for climate spending and U.S. funding will quickly fade. We are negotiating.
Outlet EnviroNews Nigeria collected Furious statements from various prominent environmental groups dismissing the $250 billion per year as “petty” and “insulting.”
“We refuse to accept empty financial agreements that betray climate justice and make a mockery of the polluter pays principle,” Fred Njijev, a pan-African political strategist at Greenpeace Africa, said in a statement responding to the draft. “To my African colleagues, now is the time to come together. There is no better deal than one that pushes our continent into further climate destruction. Developed countries must now pay their fair share.”
“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. . , was quoted. “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.”
Officials from the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network called the draft “inappropriate and shameful.”
An estimated 50,000 people flew into Baku for COP29, creating significant carbon emissions. Nearly 1,800 of them were lobbyists for fossil fuel companies.
“As with last year's COP28 climate change negotiations in Dubai, far more fossil lobbyists were allowed to participate in COP29 than delegates from almost every country,” international organization Global Witness observed of the event. did. “The 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists registered in Baku are exceeded only by host country Azerbaijan (2,229 people), COP30 host Brazil (1,914 people) and the delegation from Turkiye. [Turkey] (1,862)”.
