Landmark $300bn for poorer nations in climate deal | Global News Avenue

Rich countries have pledged a record $300bn (£238bn) to developing countries to help them cope with and prevent climate change.

Negotiations at the United Nations climate summit COP29 in Azerbaijan were 33 hours late and almost collapsed.

Simon Steel, the head of the UN climate agency, said it had been “a difficult journey but we have a deal”.

But the talks failed to build on a deal adopted last year calling on countries to “break away from fossil fuels”.

Developing countries and those particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change dramatically withdrew from the negotiations on Saturday afternoon.

“When I say our islands are sinking, I’m not exaggerating! How can you expect us to return to our country’s women, men and children with poor treatment?” Cedric Shu, Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States Stell said.

But at 03:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday), after some modifications to the agreement, the countries finally adopted the agreement. The move was met with cheers and applause, but angry speeches from India showed that deep frustration remains.

“We cannot accept… that the proposed targets will not solve any problems for us. (It) goes against the climate action necessary for our country’s survival,” Leela Nandan told the meeting, calling the amount too small.

Countries such as Switzerland, the Maldives, Canada and Australia subsequently protested that the language on reducing global fossil fuel use was too weak.

Instead, the decision was postponed until the next climate talks in 2025.

This commitment to provide more funding demonstrates that poorer countries bear a disproportionate burden of climate change but have also historically contributed the least to the climate crisis.

The newly committed funds are expected to come from government grants and the private sector (banks and corporates) and should help countries switch from fossil fuel generation to renewable energy.

It also pledged to triple funding for countries to combat climate change. Historically, only 40% of funding for climate change has been spent on this.

As well as committing $300bn (£238bn), countries agreed that a further $1.3tn is needed by 2035 to help prevent climate change.

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The talks on November 11 were dominated by the election of US President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated in January.

He is a climate skeptic who has said he would withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris Agreement, which in 2015 set out a road map for countries to combat climate change.

“There’s no doubt that this has led to headline-grabbing numbers falling. Donors in other developed countries are acutely aware that Trump is not going to pay a penny and they will have to make up the shortfall,” said Joe, an expert on international climate negotiations at the University of Cambridge. Professor Anna Deplici told the BBC.

The deal is a sign that countries remain committed to working together on climate, but with the planet’s largest economy now unlikely to play a role, achieving the multi-billion-dollar target will become more difficult.

“The protracted fight at COP29 reflects the more serious geopolitical situation the world finds itself in. The result is a flawed compromise between donor countries and the world’s most vulnerable countries,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Policy Institute, a think tank. .

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stressed that the new pledge does not commit the UK to provide more climate finance, but it is actually a “huge opportunity for British businesses to invest in other markets”.

“This is a crucial last-minute deal for the climate. It’s not everything we or others want, but it’s a step forward for all of us,” he said.

In return for pledging more money, developed countries including Britain and the European Union want countries to make stronger commitments to reduce their use of fossil fuels.

While they hoped the “breakaway from fossil fuels” deal agreed at last year’s talks in Dubai would be strengthened, in the end the proposed deal simply repeats that.

For many countries, this was not good enough and was rejected – it must now be agreed next year.

Countries dependent on oil and gas exports have reportedly fought fiercely in negotiations to prevent further progress.

“The Arab Group will not accept any text that targets specific sectors, including fossil fuels,” Saudi Arabia’s Albara Tawfiq told a public meeting earlier this week.

Several countries came to the talks with new plans to combat climate change in their own countries.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a climate leadership role on the world stage and pledged to reduce UK emissions by 81% by 2035, which many consider an ambitious target.

Host country Azerbaijan is a controversial choice for climate talks. The company said it hopes to expand natural gas production by a third over the next decade.

Due to President Lula’s strong commitment to climate change and reducing deforestation in the globally important Amazon rainforest, Brazil is considered a better choice to host COP 30 of the climate summit in the city of Belém next year.