MANILA, Philippines – Disappointment resounded among delegates of civil society after the climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, concluded with what some call a “paltry” climate finance goal of $300 billion a year.
“The agreed finance goal is woefully inadequate and overshadowed by the level of despair and scale of action needed,” said Jasper Inventor, the delegation head of Greenpeace International.
During the summit, developing countries demanded that wealthy nations provide trillions of dollars so they can recover from impacts of climate change and move away from fossil fuels.
The final deal that came out on Sunday, November 24, said rich countries should pay $300 billion a year by 2035. The money will come from public and private finance, contrary to what poor nations want which is that the fund come in the form of grants.
“Disappointing outcome at COP29,” Evans Njewa, chair of the Lease Developed Countries (LDC) group, said in a post. “We missed a chance to shield our most vulnerable from the climate crisis and heal our planet.”
No surprise
But the decision was not a surprise.
Even the days leading up to the final agreement did not raise any hopes that the outcome of this year’s climate negotiations will significantly push ambition.
The COP29 presidency initially released a draft that identified $250 billion as the new quantum.
This was met with outrage, with some delegates saying that “no deal is a big deal.” Parties from the LDC and the Alliance of Small Island States temporarily walked out from the talks.
Before that, the presidency released a text on the penultimate day that skipped on specifying a number.
“COP29 has failed the world’s most vulnerable,” said Avril de Torres of think tank Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development.
De Torres said they came to Baku “seeking to secure the finance that is legally owed to us” but instead “we return home to shattered communities.”
“The Philippines recently faced six consecutive storms, resulting in the tragic loss of over 170 lives,” De Torres said. “If this is not proof that money is needed now, then what more must we endure?”
Between $5.036 to $6.876 trillion are needed to reduce national emissions by 2030, according to reports submitted to the United Nations by 98 countries.
Originally, parties set a $100 billion climate finance goal back in 2009. The world failed to meet this target in 2020, and only belatedly achieved this in 2022.
“The developing world needed at least $1.3 trillion in public finance, yet this decision is at least a trillion short,” said John Leo Algo, another Filipino climate activist present in Baku.
United Nations’ climate chief Simon Stiell acknowledged the disappointment of parties and said “this is no time for victory laps.”
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do,” said Stiell. – Rappler.com