Rich Countries Have Agreed On A Deal Of $300 Billion Per Year To Fight Climate Change, Short Of The $1 Trillion Needed
Representatives from developing nations have labeled the figure as grossly inadequate, saying it falls far short of the estimated US$1.3 trillion needed to efficiently tackle the impacts of climate change and support sustainable development.
COP29 climate negotiations held in Baku, Azerbaijan, finally concluded 33 hours late with a significant but controversial climate finance deal.
The deal was reached on Sunday, Nov. 24, a day after the talks were supposed to end. It stipulates that developed, richer nations will provide US$300 billion annually by 2035 to assist developing countries in coping with climate change impacts and transitioning to renewable energy sources.
While the new deal triples the previous commitment of US$100 billion per year, it has been met with skepticism and criticism regarding its sufficiency and urgency.
Many representatives from developing nations have labeled this figure as grossly inadequate, arguing it falls far short of the estimated US$1.3 trillion needed to efficiently tackle the impacts of climate change and support sustainable development.
India's delegate described the deal as "nothing more than an optical illusion," emphasizing that it fails to address the scale of the challenges faced by impacted countries.
Small island states and the least developed countries group walked out of the meeting to protest their dissatisfaction.
Critics also raised doubts about the reliability of the current commitments due the history of unmet financial promises and major countries like the US not contributing; The previous deal of US$100 billion per year was not met until 2022, two years after the deadline.
US president-elect Donald Trump has also vowed to remove the US from global climate efforts despite the country being the world's biggest historical polluter and most responsible for climate change.
In addition, the COP29 agreement is based on loans rather than grants, leading to fears that financial assistance will not alleviate the financial pressures on developing countries and could exacerbate their existing debt burdens.
Loans are also unjust as developing countries are forced to pay back more than they borrowed to solve a problem they did not cause.
There was also disappointment regarding the lack of binding commitments from wealthier, emerging economies, such as China and Gulf countries, to contribute to climate financing.
Instead, the agreement merely encouraged voluntary contributions from these nations, which many critics see as insufficient given their roles in contributing to global emissions.
While some progress has been made, the financial commitments are inadequate to address the urgent climate crisis, experts say.
Earlier in November, scientists warned that 2024 is set to be the hottest year ever recorded.
In 2015, world leaders pledged to work to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5°C since pre-industrial levels as part of the Paris Agreement.
But 2024 is now on track to become the first year that global warming will exceed the 1.5°C, signaling the urgent need for countries around the world to escalate efforts to cut carbon emissions.
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Yoyo Chang
Sofia Hou
Sofia Hou
