After the meeting, the rich nations in the room — the U.S., Australia and those from Europe — had agreed to transfer $300 billion per year by 2035 to poor countries to help them fight climate change and transition to cleaner energy, according to two diplomats from Europe, one from South Africa and one from Latin America. That was around $100 billion per year more than most, in particular the U.S., had hoped to agree on coming into the meeting, said the European diplomat, and another official from the same region. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly declined to confirm the amount it was prepared to offer at the talks.
Those details are yet to be confirmed in any draft deal published by the conference organizers.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spent much of Friday cajoling wealthy countries to raise the number they were promising, after an initial draft offered $250 billion. Analysis by the U.N. and others has found the needs of developing nations run into the trillions every year. But private capital can also be used to fill the gap.
Speaking to POLITICO, Irish Climate Minister Eamon Ryan confirmed that wealthy countries had agreed to increase the finance goal and that Saudi Arabia had blocked any discussion on lowering greenhouse gas pollution.
On Saturday afternoon, U.S. climate envoy John Podesta said negotiators had worked all night and were still crafting an outcome. Asked if they were close, he said: “These things have a shelf life.”
On Saturday morning, top negotiators from the Marshall Islands and Belize said they were unaware of any deal brokered overnight.