COP29 climate summit draft proposes rich countries pay $250 billion per year

The COP29 climate summit presidency released a draft finance deal on Friday that would have developed nations take the lead in providing $250 billion per year by 2035 to help poorer nations - a proposal that drew criticism from all sides.

World governments represented at the summit in the Azerbaijan capital Baku are tasked with agreeing a sweeping funding plan to tackle climate change, but the talks have been marked by division between wealthy governments resisting a costly outcome and developing nations pushing for more.

Negotiators have just hours to bridge their differences before the two-week conference, scheduled to end on Friday evening, spills into overtime, with expectations the $250 billion target could yet rise.

“I’m so mad. It’s ridiculous. Just ridiculous,” said Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, the Special Representative for Climate Change for Panama, who called the proposed amount too low. “It feels that the developed world wants the planet to burn.”

A European negotiator, meanwhile, told Reuters the new draft deal was too expensive and did not do enough to expand the number of countries contributing to the funding.

“No one is comfortable with the number, because it’s high and (there is) next to nothing on increasing contributor base,” the negotiator said.

Governments that would be expected to lead the financing include the European Union, Australia, the United States, Britain, Japan, Norway, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland.

The draft invited developing countries to contribute voluntarily, but emphasised that paying in climate finance would not affect their status as “developing” nations at the UN - a red line for countries including China and Brazil.

‘FIRST REFLECTION’

Negotiations have also been clouded by uncertainty over the role of the United States in the deal after climate sceptic Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 5, promising to withdraw the world’s top historic greenhouse gas emitter from international climate efforts when he retakes office in January.

The Azerbaijani COP29 presidency described Friday’s text as a “first reflection” of what countries had said in consultations.

“We will further engage with parties to collectively agree final adjustments to the few outstanding yet important issues,” it said in a statement.

The draft also set a broader goal to raise $1.3 trillion in climate finance annually by 2035, which would include funding from all public and private sources.

That is in line with a recommendation from economists that developing countries have access to at least $1 trillion annually by the end of the decade.

But filling the gap between government pledges and private ones could be tricky, negotiators have warned.

“This goal will need to be supported by ambitious bilateral action, MDB contributions and efforts to better mobilise private finance, among other critical factors,” a senior US official said, referring to multilateral development banks.

The climate summit is scheduled to wrap up in the Caspian Sea city by the end of Friday. But past COPs have traditionally run over time.

HOTTEST ON RECORD

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres returned to Baku from a G20 meeting in Brazil on Thursday, calling for a major push to get a deal and warning that “failure is not an option”.

The showdown over financing for developing countries comes in a year that scientists say is destined to be the hottest on record. Climate woes are stacking up in the wake of such extreme heat, loudening cries for more funding to cope.

Widespread flooding has killed thousands across Africa this year, while deadly landslides have buried villages in Asia. Drought in South America has shrunk rivers - vital transport corridors - and livelihoods.

Developed countries, too, have not been spared. Torrential rain triggered floods in Valencia, Spain, last month that left more than 200 dead, and the United States has so far registered 24 billion-dollar disasters - just four fewer than last year.

Daniel Lund, negotiator for Fiji, told Reuters there was a long way to go to reach a finance deal that matched the enormity of planetary warming.

“It is a very low number in relation to the available evidence on the scale of the need that exists and understanding of how those needs will evolve,” he said.