Developing nations, which are disproportionately affected by climate change, had been campaigning for “trillions, not billions” in climate finance from rich countries.
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Nearly 200 countries agreed to more than triple the amount of money available to help developing countries confront rapidly warming temperatures.
The deal was reached in the early hours of Sunday, far past the scheduled end of COP29 on Friday. More than 50,000 people attended the two-week summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, including 80 world leaders and at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists.
After days of heated negotiations, rich countries pledged to provide “at least” $300 billion annually by 2035 in climate finance for developing countries. The money will come from a variety of sources, including public and private finance as well as bilateral and multilateral deals. The text also “encourages” developing countries like China to contribute, albeit on a voluntary basis.
Zhao Yingmin, head of China’s climate delegation, had previously hinted that the country would only agree to make voluntary contributions to future climate finance, arguing that developed countries should be responsible for mandatory contributions under the draft New Collective Quantified Goal.
The final amount is a jump from the $250 billion proposed in a draft deal on Friday, which sparked widespread condemnation as being ‘”definitely not enough.” It will replace the existing goal to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 for developing countries, which was proposed at COP15 in 2009 but not met until 2022.
But Global South negotiators said Sunday’s deal was a “joke” and “insultingly low.” They had been pushing for “trillions, not billions” throughout the summit and mainly grant-based money that would not have to be paid back as many developing countries are already heavily burdened by debt from previous development assistance.
Several delegations representing least-developed countries and small island developing nations were seen walking out of consultations on Saturday morning, as negotiations headed into the final stretch.
“We came here to this COP for a fair deal. We feel that we haven’t been heard, and there’s a deal to be made, and we have not been consulted … We’ve walked out because at the moment, we don’t feel that we are being heard,” Cedric Schuster, the Samoan chairman of the group, told reporters.
As COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev brought down his gavel on the final $300 deal at 2.40 am local time, countries including India, Panama and Nigeria, took to the floor to express their frustration. They accused the COP29 presidency of pushing the deal through without allowing them to object it.
Indian negotiator Chandni Raina said her country “[did] not accept the goal proposal in its present form,” calling the amount proposed “abysmally poor” and a “paltry sum.”
“It is not something that will enable conducive climate action that is necessary for the survival of our country,” she said. Recent reports have put the amount needed to deal with the consequences of climate change at some $1.3 trillion annually.
“We had informed the Presidency, we had informed the Secretariat that we wanted to make a statement prior to any decision on the adoption. However, and this is for everyone to see, this has been stage-managed. And we are extremely, extremely disappointed with this incident… We absolutely object to this unfair means followed for adoption,” Raina said, prompting loud applause from developing country delegates and a large number of civil society representatives present in the negotiating hall.
Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, Panama’s special representative for climate change, also questioned the process of the deal’s adoption.
“Developed nations always throw text at us at the last minute, shove it down our throat, and then, for the sake of multilateralism, we always have to accept it, otherwise the climate mechanisms will go into a horrible downward spiral, and no one needs that,” he said.
“This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country,” said UN climate chief Simon Stiell. “But like any insurance policy – it only works – if premiums are paid in full, and on time. Promises must be kept, to protect billions of lives.”
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work to do,” said Stiell.
A coalition of least developed countries and small island developing states also secured language in the final text that establishes a process to boost climate finance towards the $1.3 trillion goal. That effort will be part of a “Baku to Belem Roadmap to $1.3 trillion,” which will look for additional resources to “support support low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development pathways.”
More reactions to the COP29 deal (click to view)
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations: COP29 comes at the close of a brutal year – a year seared by record temperatures, and scarred by climate disaster, all as emissions continue to rise. Finance has been priority number one. Developing countries swamped by debt, pummelled by disasters, and left behind in the renewables revolution, are in desperate need of funds. An agreement at COP29 was absolutely essential to keep the 1.5 degree limit alive. And countries have delivered. I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome – on both finance and mitigation – to meet the great challenge we face. But this agreement provides a base on which to build. It must be honoured in full and on time. Commitments must quickly become cash. All countries must come together to ensure the top-end of this new goal is met.”
Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director: “COP29 has delivered a hard-fought deal. This is at a time when science tells us that without action, climate impacts will only intensify further. COP29 has now secured a foundation on which we must now rapidly build. However, we must be clear, ambition and promises are only as good as the action and delivery that backs them up. We therefore need to see more transparent, inclusive progress on finance, on mitigation and on adaptation. The UN Environment Programme will continue to work with all parties and stakeholders to ensure that climate finance is mobilised in the most effective way, with maximum impact on the ground for communities that need it the most.”
Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone’s environment minister: “This COP, against the wishes of the vulnerable countries, has unfortunately adopted a $300 billion target (to be met in 2035), less than a quarter of what science shows is needed and barely enough to forestall a climate catastrophe.”
Jess Beagley, Policy Lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance: “The USD$300 billion per year deal negotiated in Baku is weak, shortsighted and wholly inadequate to address the mounting threats of the climate crisis, and fails to protect the millions of lives on the line. Countries, especially those of the global south, are facing extreme weather that is causing huge economic losses, overburdening health systems, and causing injuries, death, and disease for the people of developing countries. Without adequate financing, developing countries will not be able to build any sort of resilience to the threats from the climate crisis – so wealthy countries must take responsibility and agree to scale up public funding. The health of people in every country depends on it.”
Jeni Miller, Executive Director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance: “At COP29, the US and other developed countries failed to meet their responsibilities under the Paris Agreement to financially assist developing countries to deal with the devastating impacts of climate change.”
Chiara Martinelli, Director at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe: “Rich countries own the responsibility for the failed outcome at COP29. The talk of tripling from the $100 billion goal might sound impressive, but in reality, it falls far short, barely increasing from the previous commitment when adjusted for inflation and considering the bulk of this money will come in the form of unsustainable loans. This is not solidarity. It’s smoke and mirrors that betray the needs of those on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Despite promises of leadership, the EU has shown a troubling lack of action and ambition, undermining trust and progress when it was needed most.”
Johan Rockström, Earth system scientist and Co-Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: “The Baku agreement of raising 300 billion dollars of public money annually from multiple sources by 2035 fails on several accounts. Too little, too late, from too many sources. Global emissions must be reduced by 7.5 percent per year to avoid unmanageable global outcomes as the world breaches the 1.5°C limit. Starting by taking off 3 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2025. We cannot wait for public climate finance another ten years, by which time loss-and-damage costs will have gone through the roof. Our only chance is full focus on financing and implementing emission cuts now. Furthermore, to solve the climate crisis we need to redirect the entire global economy away from fossil-fuel based growth. Private funding is necessary, but well beyond the critical public climate finance through collective action among nations in the world.”
Ottmar Edenhofer, climate economist and Co-Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: “The climate summit in Baku was not a success, but at best the avoidance of a diplomatic disaster. It is now abundantly clear that we need additional negotiation formats for the global fight against the climate crisis. Not all of the almost 200 signatory states to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change necessarily have to sit around the same table for progress to be made. It is now important to link climate financing for the Global South, which was the main topic of discussion in Baku, to emissions reduction in two ways. First, donor states in the wealthy North should mobilise the funds by pricing oil, coal and gas. Second, the money should ideally only flow if the recipient country demonstrably reduces their greenhouse gas emissions. Perhaps such a system can be established at future climate summits, but it is more likely to happen through smaller groups, in so-called climate clubs.”
Seán McLoughlin, climate policy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Ireland: “Let’s be clear on what has happened here in Baku: rich, developed countries have bullied the developing world into accepting a woefully inadequate deal. It is a deal that is entirely divorced from the reality of the global climate crisis. The hypocrisy of the Global North has now been laid bare by their abject failure to step up and pay their climate debt, whilst continuing to allow trillions in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.”
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