As the critical COP29 climate summit stretched into overtime on Saturday, sources revealed that major developed countries have agreed to significantly raise their annual climate finance offer to developing nations to $300 billion. The move represents a key breakthrough in the fraught negotiations, which had earlier risked collapse over the contentious issue of climate finance.
Eleventh-Hour Diplomatic Push
According to insiders, the Azeri COP29 Presidency facilitated an all-night closed-door session with a select group of ministers and heads of delegation from major players including the EU, China, US, UK, and Australia. The meeting focused on ironing out differences on crucial sticking points like climate finance targets and the global transition away from fossil fuels.
The talks, which were originally scheduled to wrap up on Friday evening, dragged on through Saturday morning as negotiators worked to salvage a deal. A planned plenary session to potentially announce an agreement did not materialize as diplomats continued their last-ditch efforts behind the scenes.
Developing World Demands More
Friday’s draft text, which proposed a $250 billion annual climate finance goal, drew sharp criticism from developing countries, who dismissed it as woefully inadequate to support their low-carbon transition and adaptation to worsening climate impacts. Negotiators from the Global South argued this figure fell far short of the $1.3 trillion per year that many experts calculate is needed.
Remember, many of them are already in deep debt. To have climate finance as the current text proposes will only entrap those countries more.
– Claudio Angelo, Observatório do Clima
The anger from developing nations prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity, with reports that UN Secretary-General António Guterres was personally calling world leaders to push for greater ambition on finance. This eleventh-hour intervention appears to have borne fruit, with the EU and several other developed countries indicating their willingness to boost the offer to $300 billion annually.
The $1.3 Trillion Target
Under the proposed deal, the $300 billion in direct annual support from rich countries would form the core of a broader package intended to mobilize a total of $1.3 trillion per year in climate finance flows to the developing world by 2035. This “layered” approach would include:
- New dedicated taxes on fossil fuels and carbon-intensive activities
- Expanded carbon offset trading schemes
- Increased private sector investment in clean energy projects
- Other innovative finance tools and mechanisms
However, vulnerable countries and civil society groups have expressed concerns about an over-reliance on private finance, stressing the need for more direct grant funding to support adaptation to unavoidable climate impacts. Some activists have called for even higher finance goals ranging from $5-7 trillion annually, pointing to developed nations’ historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions.
The Road Ahead
As negotiators in Baku work to finalize an agreement, all eyes are on whether countries can strike a delicate balance on climate finance that rebuilds trust between rich and poor nations. Beyond the headline numbers, key issues remain around the share of funding delivered as grants versus loans, the balance between mitigation and adaptation, and how to define and track climate finance contributions.
Developed countries have clearly arrived to ditch their obligations. The $300 billion figure is a start, but still way below what’s needed to help developing nations green their economies and cope with rising climate disasters.
– A senior African negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity
Many hope that a robust COP29 outcome on finance can help restore momentum and trust in the UN climate process, which has been strained by past unmet promises and the worsening climate emergency. But observers caution that the real test will be whether countries follow through on their commitments with concrete policies and funding in the months and years ahead.
As one veteran NGO analyst put it, “In climate diplomacy, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. We’ve seen big announcements fizzle out before. The fight continues until the money reaches the communities on the frontlines of the crisis. But today’s news offers a flicker of hope that COP29 may yet deliver something meaningful, if not yet transformational.”
