BAKU - NEW YORK: Europe and the Arabs
A new draft financing deal handed to negotiators in Baku - on the final day of the UN climate conference - proposes that rich countries commit to providing $250 billion annually to help vulnerable countries cope with global warming and accelerate the global transition to renewable energy. According to the UN daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received this Saturday morning,
The new draft final text of the conference - which has been in session for two weeks and whose negotiations are expected to extend over the weekend - calls for the overall climate finance target to reach "at least $1.3 trillion by 2035", but does not specify details on how this money will be raised, and whether it will be grants, loans or from the private sector?
'A slap in the face'
Climate and environmental advocates from civil society were quick to respond to this latest draft. “I would say it is disappointing to say the least. It is a slap in the face. It is an insult. It is shocking that we have come to this point. Rich countries are essentially gambling with the lives of people in developing countries and small islands,” said Namrata Chowdhury of the International Climate Action Network.

Liddy Nakpil of the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development was also disappointed. “Climate finance should not come in the form of loans because that increases the burden of debt,” she told UN News. “One of the issues that is preventing countries in the global south from taking urgent climate action and also providing our people with the basic services that we need is the burden of debt,” she said.

“We are urging all developing countries to have the courage in the negotiations to continue to push, because this is a terrible deal,” said Jacobo Ocharan of Climate Action Network International. “We are continuing to push the idea that no deal is better than a bad deal.” At stake
The 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-29) has been dubbed the “Climate Finance COP” as parties are expected to set a new global target for climate finance. This target, or new collective quantitative target, is seen as one of the conference’s key deliverables. It will replace the current $100 billion target, which is due to expire in 2025.
Climate experts have estimated the new annual financing target at between $1 trillion and $1.3 trillion, which will help vulnerable countries deal with loss and damage from climate change and adapt to it, including building their own clean energy systems.
Last week, in a move to support the new financing target, multilateral development banks announced a significant increase in climate finance for low- and middle-income countries. This will reach $120 billion annually by 2030, with another $65 billion mobilized from the private sector, with the amount expected to increase by 2035.,