Page 2 - Cop29

COP29 finance, carbon deals could unlock billions in global investment

Two weeks of acrimonious negotiations in Azerbaijan's capital Baku resulted in a deal for $300 billion in annual climate finance by 2035

India aiming to finalise carbon deals with Japan, Singapore, and S Korea

Talks over prospective future deals also are taking place with Germany and Sweden

Too little, too distant: India rejects $300 bn climate finance at COP29

India on Sunday rejected the new climate finance package of a meagre USD 300 billion annually by 2035 for the Global South at the UN climate conference here, calling it "too little and too distant". The USD 300 billion figure is a far cry from the USD 1.3 trillion the Global South has been demanding over the past three years of talks to tackle climate change. Making a statement on behalf of India, Chandni Raina, Adviser, Department of Economic Affairs, said they were not allowed to speak before the adoption of the deal, undermining their trust in the process. "In continuation of several such incidents of not following inclusivity, not respecting country positions... We had informed the presidency, we had informed the secretariat that we wanted to make a statement prior to any decision. However, this is for everyone to see, this has been stage-managed. We are extremely disappointed," she said. "The goal is too little, too distant," Raina said, asserting that it is set for 2035, whic

Rich nations offer $300 billion annually after 10 years to Global South

Developed countries made a final offer of USD 300 billion annually by 2035 to help developing countries tackle climate change, hours after two groups of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries stormed out of the negotiating room at COP29 here. The USD 300 billion figure, however, is a far cry from the USD 1.3 trillion the Global South has been demanding in the three years of talks. The offer is part of the draft deal on a new climate finance package for developing nations, or the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), which will be put before countries for approval in a plenary session shortly. The new amount will replace the USD 100 billion figure pledged in 2009. The draft deal also introduces the Baku to Belem Roadmap, an important request for Africa and other developing country groups to lay out a meaningful process towards aligning the global finance system with achieving the USD 1.3 trillion goal by 2035. Issued after tiring, mind-numbing negotiations that continued fo

COP29 gets Article 6 of Paris Agreement operational, opens carbon markets

Article 6 provides trusted and transparent carbon markets for countries as they collaborate to reach their climate goals

Wealthy countries back raising COP29 climate deal to $300 billion

The summit had been due to finish on Friday but ran into overtime as negotiators from nearly 200 countries

COP29: Civil society protests climate finance proposal, demands 'no deal'

Civil society members staged a silent march at the UN climate summit, condemning the developed nations' proposal to increase annual climate finance to a meagre USD 250 billion by 2035. They called on the developing world to reject what they described as an "insulting" and "unjust" deal. With their arms crossed in defiance, protesters walked silently through the summit venue, where chanting is prohibited. "We urge you to stand up for the people of the Global South, and we insist: no deal in Baku is better than a bad deal, and this is a very, very bad deal because of the intransigence of developed countries," said Climate Action Network (CAN), a global coalition of more than 1,900 civil society organisations, in a letter to G77 and China, the largest bloc of developing nations. The letter urged negotiators to abandon weak agreements, saying, "If nothing sufficiently strong is forthcoming at this COP, we urge you to walk away from the table to fight another day, and we will fight the

COP29 Climate Summit: Climate finance draft sets stage for a clash

The final version not only keeps the role of public financing ambiguous but also tries to put the burden of making contributions on developing countries

COP29: 'X' factor could shape Global South's future, climate talks at Baku

After two weeks of intense negotiations at the UN climate conference here, countries are facing an 'X' sitting in a bracket instead of a clear figure for the trillions of dollars needed to help developing nations fight climate change -- a problem they did not create. Developed countries, which built their economies on fossil fuels and are responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, are still avoiding a key question: how much climate finance will they provide to developing countries each year starting in 2025? At the UN climate conference in Baku, they are required to update the climate finance goal of USD 100 billion agreed upon in 2009 to at least USD 1.3 trillion per year to meet the needs of developing countries amid the intensifying impacts of climate change. It's the final day of the conference, and countries are awaiting a new "acceptable" version of the draft text that can be refined to produce a balanced outcome. The draft text on the new ..

COP29 meet: Cannot accept attempts to shift focus from finance, says India

India said on Thursday that it will not accept any effort by developed countries to shift the focus away from climate finance for developing countries and place it on emissions reductions in the Global South. It also said that without adequate support in terms of finance, technology, and capacity building, the fight against climate change would be severely impacted. In response to the draft text on the new climate finance goal released early Thursday, India's Environment and Climate Secretary Leena Nandan said the shift in focus at a time when it is crucial to ensure full support for mitigation actions through adequate finance is disappointing. "COP after COP, we keep talking about mitigation ambitions, what is to be done without talking about how it is to be done. This COP started with a focus on enablement through a new climate finance goal (NCQG), but as we move towards the end, we see shifting of the focus to mitigation," she said. Nandan, who is leading the Indian delegation a

Failure not an option, says Stiell amid disagreement among nations at COP29

UN climate chief Simon Stiell on Thursday issued a strong call for global unity and ambition to secure a groundbreaking finance goal to support climate action in the developing world, saying, "Failure is not an option." As negotiators raced against time to resolve outstanding issues related to the critical objective of COP29, Stiell said a major push was needed to bring discussions to the finishing line. "It might jeopardise both near-term action, and ambition in the preparation of the new national climate action plans, with potential devastating impacts as irreversible tipping points are getting closer, he said. On draft climate finance text released earlier in the morning, the UN climate chief said that despite areas of convergence, significant differences remain. A surge in finance is essential: To ensure all parties can deliver new national plans aligned with 1.5 degrees as they must, he said. Stiell warned that delays at COP29 could complicate the road to COP30 in Brazil nex

COP29 produces streamlined climate finance draft, but key issues remain

After an all-nighter, a draft text on the new climate finance package for the developing world finally dropped Thursday morning -- shrunk from 25 pages to 10, but the major sticking points remain. With less than two days left for the UN climate conference to close, negotiators face a gargantuan task to hammer it out. A quick glance at the text shows developed countries are still dodging a key question: How much climate finance are they ready to give developing countries every year starting in 2025? This has led to significant frustration among developing countries, who have repeatedly said they need at least USD 1.3 trillion to tackle the escalating challenges. "The revised draft text, while more streamlined, presents a spectrum of options -- some good, some bad, and some outright ugly," said Harjeet Singh, a climate activist and Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. He said it acknowledges the need for public funds from developed ...

COP29: At climate talks, draft of deal gives little clarity on climate cash

A new draft text released early Thursday which will form the basis of any deal reached at United Nations climate talks on money for developing countries to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change left out a crucial sticking point: how much wealthy nations will pay. Negotiators at the talks known as COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, are trying to close the gap between the $1.3 trillion the developing world says is needed in climate finance and the few hundred billion that richer nations have been prepared to pay. But the draft text "presents two extreme ends of the aisle without much in between", said Li Shuo, Asia Society Policy Institute Director. Other than capturing the ground standing of both sides, this text hardly does anything more. Rob Moore, Associate Director at European think tank E3G said that negotiators need to make a huge amount of progress over the next few days and the road to agreement will need to see rapid and candid engagement, with numbers on the ...

Developing nations demand upto $900 bn in public climate finance at COP29

Developing countries are asking for up to USD 900 billion in public funding from a total of USD 1.3 trillion they seek from developed nations in the new climate finance package for reducing emissions and adapting to the growing impacts of climate change. Negotiators told PTI that the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group has called for USD 600 billion in public funding, supplemented by private finance at concessional rates to meet the USD 1.3 trillion goal. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is pushing for USD 900 billion in government funding, while the Arab Group has proposed USD 440 billion. Although developed countries have yet to officially propose a figure, their negotiators indicated that European Union nations are discussing a global climate finance target of USD 200 billion to USD 300 billion per year. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters that developed countries want to ascertain the package's components before committing to a

Time runs down for negotiators at COP29 to find deal to curb global warming

With time running down, negotiators at the United Nations annual climate talks on Wednesday returned to the puzzle of finding an agreement to bring far more money for vulnerable nations to adapt than wealthier countries have shown they're willing to pay. Pressure was building to drive a deal by the time COP29, as this year's summit is known, concludes this week. COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev asked negotiators to clear away the technical part of talks by Wednesday afternoon so they can focus on substance. That substance is daunting. Vulnerable nations are seeking USD 1.3 trillion to deal with damage from climate change and to adapt to that change, including building out their own clean-energy systems. Experts agree that at least USD 1 trillion is called for, but both figures are far more than the developed world has so far offered. Half the world away in Rio, Brazil, where the Group of 20 summit was wrapping up on Tuesday, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told

COP29: India asks rich nations to keep climate adaptation commitments

India has called on developed countries to step up their support for climate adaptation in developing countries, saying the growing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is putting the survival of people, especially in poor nations, at risk. Speaking at a high-level ministerial dialogue on adaptation on Tuesday, India highlighted that the developing world is disproportionately suffering from the impacts of climate change, which are largely the result of historical emissions by developed countries. The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are adversely affecting the lives and livelihood of those in the developing world, putting their very survival at risk, Indian negotiator Rajasree Ray said. India recalled that the UAE framework for global climate resilience adopted at COP28 last year emphasises the urgent need for enhanced support from developed countries. This mobilisation should go beyond the previous efforts, supporting the country driven ...

COP29: Climate talks in Baku enter final stretch; what happens next

The talks, which began on Nov. 11, are due to end on Friday at 1400 GMT, but COP summits have a history of running long

G20: Leaders prioritise climate change, clean energy on summit's final day

Developed countries, including in Europe, argue that the contributor base needs to be expanded to include richer developing countries like China and richer Middle Eastern countries in order to agree

COP29: Farmers argue for share of money dedicated to fight climate change

Extreme heat ruined the pineapples on Esther Penunia's small farm in the Philippines this year, more disappointment than catastrophe since Penunia doesn't depend on the farm for a living. But Penunia worries about the millions of small farmers in her part of the world who do depend on rice paddies, coconut groves and vegetable patches that are all threatened by climate change. That's why she's hoping that countries at this year's United Nations climate summit will dedicate some of the money for fighting climate change to agriculture and the family farmers who feed most of the people in many parts of the world. You don't help small farmers, where will you get your food from?" wondered Penunia, secretary general of the Asian Farmers Association. "Who will farm for you? Who will catch the fish, who will get the honey, who will plant your vegetables? Many countries, especially in the Global South, need money to help pay for the months of recovery when typhoons wreck fields, to insure .

Delhi's air pollution takes centre stage at COP29, experts call for action

Delhi's hazardous air quality was a key focus at COP29, as experts warned about the health risks of air pollution and called for immediate global action. Aarti Khosla, Director of Climate Trends, sais that Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) had reached dangerous levels, with some areas recording particulate pollution above 1,000 microgram per cubic metre. Pollution comes from many sources like black carbon, ozone, burning fossil fuels, and farm fires. We need solutions that tackle all of these, she said. Khosla also explained that low wind speeds during the La Nia weather pattern are trapping pollutants in the air, making the situation worse. While we discuss major global issues, millions of people's health is at risk. We must act fast, she said. Courtney Howard, Vice-Chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, shared her experience from Canada, where wildfires forced the evacuation of 70 per cent of her population in 2023. This was expensive, even for a rich country like ours. ..