Wealthy nations at COP29 have agreed to raise the global climate finance target to $300 billion annually by 2035, after a previous $250 billion proposal was rejected by developing countries. Negotiations continue as a new draft is awaited.
The European Union, United States and other wealthy countries at the COP29 climate summit have agreed to raise their offer of a global finance target to $300 billion per year by 2035, sources told Reuters on Saturday.
The summit had been due to finish on Friday but ran into overtime as negotiators from nearly 200 countries — who must adopt the deal by consensus — tried to reach agreement on the world’s climate funding plan for the next decade. The shift in position came after a $250 billion proposal for a deal, drafted by Azerbaijan’s COP29 presidency on Friday, was panned by developing countries as insultingly low.
It was not immediately clear if the wealthy countries' revised position had been communicated to developing countries at COP29, and whether it would be enough to win their support.
Five sources with knowledge of the closed-door discussions said the European Union had agreed they could accept the higher number. Two sources said the United States, Australia and Britain were also on board. A European Commission spokesperson and an Australian government spokesperson both declined to comment on the negotiations. The U.S. delegation at COP29 and the UK energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Delegates were awaiting a new draft text of the deal on climate finance on Saturday after negotiators worked through the night to bridge wide gaps in their positions.
The COP29 talks have laid bare the divisions between wealthy governments constrained by tight domestic budgets and developing nations reeling from the soaring costs of storms, floods and droughts fuelled by climate change. The new goal is intended to replace developed countries' previous commitment to provide $100 billion in climate finance for poorer nations per year by 2020. That goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025.
DETAILS
Any deal would require agreement on more than just the headline amount. Negotiators have been working throughout the two-week summit to address other critical questions on the target, including who is asked to contribute and how much of the funding is on a grant basis, rather than provided as loans. The roster of countries required to contribute — about two dozen industrialised countries, including the U.S., European nations and Canada — dates back to a list decided during U.N. climate talks in 1992.
European governments have demanded others join them in paying in, including China, the world's second-biggest economy, and oil-rich Gulf states.
The recent election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, who has called climate change a hoax, has cast a cloud over the talks in Baku. Negotiators from other wealthy nations expect the world’s biggest economy will not pay into the climate finance goal during Trump’s impending four-year term.
A broader goal of raising $1.3 trillion in climate finance annually by 2035 — which economists say matches the sum needed — was included in the draft deal published on Friday, and would include funding from all public and private sources.
ALL OPTIONS ON TABLE
Poorer countries have warned that a weak finance deal at COP29 would kneecap their ability to set more ambitious targets to cut the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change.
Sierra Leone's Environment Minister Jiwoh Abdulai told Reuters the initial proposal for a $250 billion target for 2035, from Friday, would not amount to a real increase in support when accounting for inflation.
“We've spent three years negotiating these numbers. And with the end of the three years we've got nothing,” Abdulai said, adding that the deal needed stronger language to make accessing funding easier.
On Saturday, the least developed country grouping in the U.N. talks, of which Sierra Leone is a part, will present its red lines for a deal to the COP29 president.
A walk out of talks "should be on the table," he told Reuters. "All options should be on the table."
Ukraine said its forces had struck key energy installations inside Russia, including a gas processing plant and a helium facility in the Orenburg regi...
Another opposition-linked figure has been detained in Armenia following the country's parliamentary elections. Avetik Chalabyan, coordinator of the na...
Iran’s parliamentary speaker said on Wednesday regional countries alone should determine the Middle East’s political and security order, rejecting...
Critical minerals are becoming a key battleground in the growing economic rivalry between the G7 and China, as governments seek to secure supplies vit...
An unusual weather pattern known as an omega block is at the heart of the extreme heat sweeping across Europe. The phenomenon can trap hot air over th...
World Environment Day should be used as a platform to turn public awareness into concrete policy action on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, according to a senior United Nations environment official speaking in an interview with AnewZ's Guy Shone.
Azerbaijan continues to host a series of high-profile global events, including COP29, the World Urban Forum and upcoming World Environment Day activities, positioning itself at the centre of international climate discussions.
Azerbaijani President met with UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach in Baku on 16 May ahead of the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), with both sides highlighting Azerbaijan’s preparations and expanding cooperation in urban development.
Some changes are immediately visible: new turbines on the steppe, solar panels on rooftops, and figures in reports. Other changes mature in silence - but transform everything. Azerbaijan, for decades associated with black gold, is now writing a new chapter.
At least thirteen people have died and sixty-six have been injured following an explosion at Qatar's main liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing hub at Ras Laffan, authorities said on Sunday.
Tehran has agreed to let the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommence inspections of its nuclear programme, U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said. The U.S. and Iran have settled on a 60-day roadmap aimed at reaching a final deal, according to mediators Qatar and Pakistan.
A Ukrainian strike has damaged a school building in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to local authorities cited by the TASS news agency. No injuries were reported in the incident.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into "infinity, despite Tehran's denials, and that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy humanitarian supplies from the United States.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker said on Wednesday regional countries alone should determine the Middle East’s political and security order, rejecting external involvement and calling for expanded intra-regional cooperation.
Major technology, telecom, aviation and crypto-related firms have pledged to strengthen cooperation to tackle the illegal wildlife trade according to statements made at a business forum convened by United for Wildlife during London Climate Action Week.
Scientists have identified almost 166,000 square kilometres of coral reefs worldwide that appear capable of surviving and recovering from the impacts of climate change, offering new hope for some of the planet's most vulnerable marine ecosystems.
Australia's weather bureau warned on Tuesday that an El Niño weather pattern has formed in the tropical Pacific and could intensify in the second half of 2026, becoming one of the strongest events recorded in seven decades.
France’s parliament has formally recognised state responsibility for the use of the toxic pesticide chlordecone in Martinique and Guadeloupe, marking a significant step in addressing decades of environmental contamination and public health concerns.
Financial markets are significantly underestimating the economic impact of biodiversity loss, potentially leaving countries exposed to sovereign debt crises and rising borrowing costs, according to new research published on Friday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment