Negotiators at the COP29 in Azerbaijan are racing against time to secure climate finance of USD 1.3 trillion to curb the impact of climate change. Experts agree that at least USD 1 trillion is called for, but both figures are far more than the developed world has so far offered.
The negotiation is happening over three big parts of the issue to understand how big the numbers are, how much is grants or loans and who contributes.
The UN Climate Change Conference which began on November 11 will run till November 22. After 10 days of talks, the COP29 presidency released a basic draft proposal. However, the draft dodges the prime issue of determining how much climate finance the developed nations are willing to give annually to developing countries every year starting 2025.
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Onus on the Presidency
German special climate envoy Jennifer Morgan placed the responsibility on the COP29 presidency stating, “I think the options can help shift us into the fast lane towards a green and prosperous future or mire us in a fight about lowest common denominators.”
She stressed that “Trust in the presidency and trust between and amongst parties” is essential. Morgan added, this process involves “extensive shuttle diplomacy” and numerous negotiations between different groups.
The developing countries have proposed USD 1.3 trillion proposed by developing countries. However, developed nations are still hesitant to commit to specific funding amounts and have proposed figures of USD 900 billion, USD 600 billion and USD 440 billion.
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Diego Pacheco Balanza, the chair of the Like-Minded Developing Countries negotiating bloc, said the group was also hearing a figure of USD 200 billion in negotiating corridors. That’s not enough, he said. “Developed countries whose legal obligations it is to provide finance continue to shift their responsibility to developing countries,” Pacheco Balanza said.
When asked for his response to the USD 200 billion suggestion, Adonia Ayebare, chair of the G77 plus China negotiating group asked, “Is it a joke?” Speaking to a room of reporters, he added that negotiations need a headline figure of USD 1.3 trillion. “I used to be a member of the press, I know the headline is important,” he said.
But European climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra, said that it is important to determine the elements first, so that you can have an informed conversation about what an ambitious and also realistic number could be.
Global Perspective
Meanwhile, half the world away in Rio, Brazil, where the Group of 20 summit wrapped up on Tuesday, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the group of the world’s largest economies that “the success of COP29 is largely in your hands.”
“That goal, the financial goal, in its different layers, must meet the needs of developing countries, beginning with a significant increase in concessional public funds,” he said.
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Additionally, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called on developed nations to consider advancing their 2050 emission goals forward to 2040 or 2045. “The G20 is responsible for 80 per cent of greenhouse effect emissions,” he said. “Even if we are not walking the same speed, we can all take one more step,” he concluded.
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