Saturday, November 23, 2024

Cop29 on verge of collapse as poorer nations walk out in row over cash

Must read

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and the Least Developed Countries (LDC) bloc abandoned the meetings, but they remain at the conference.

A spokesman for AOSIS said: “We are still here. But for talks to be productive, they must be inclusive.”

In the first draft agreement on Thursday, no specific figure was offered. Under the climate finance section of the document, a place holder “X” was included instead, causing anger among delegates from poorer nations.

On Friday, in a new draft agreement, a $250 billion-per-year climate finance proposal was put on the table, to be achieved by 2035.

The new goal was described as “totally inadequate” by Ali Mohamed, chairman of the African Group of Negotiators.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is among the groups at the conference lobbying for a far higher figure of $1 trillion.

Stephen Cornelius, WWF Global’s deputy lead on climate, said: “The amount is far too low, and rich countries don’t even commit to delivering all of it.”

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, described the impasse as a “geopolitical power play by a few fossil fuel states”.

“We will not allow the most vulnerable, especially the small island states, to be ripped off by the few rich fossil fuel emitters who have the backing, unfortunately, at this moment of the president,” she said.

In the previous NCQG struck in 2009, rich nations agreed to give $100 billion per year to poor countries. The $100 billion goal was reached for the first time in 2022.

Latest article