After two weeks of intense negotiations, delegates from nearly 200 countries reached an agreement at the COP29 climate summit held in Baku on Sunday (November 24th). The agreement, passed by a vote, stipulates that developed countries will provide at least $300 billion in climate financing annually before 2035 to help developing countries address the impacts of climate change. However, the potential beneficiary countries of this agreement still criticize the funding as insufficient.
This year’s United Nations COP29 climate summit took place in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. The summit, originally scheduled to conclude on Friday (November 22nd), had to be extended due to difficulties in reaching a consensus among representatives from nearly 200 countries. On Saturday, representatives from some developing countries and island nations became disheartened and some even left, raising concerns that the negotiations might collapse. However, at 2:40 am local time on Sunday, the participating countries’ representatives finally voted to pass the agreement.
US President Biden congratulated the COP29 participants on achieving a “historic agreement.” The agreement is expected to help mobilize the necessary funds. Biden, however, cautiously stated that more work still needs to be done.
“While we have a lot of work ahead of us to achieve our climate goals, today’s outcome is a significant step forward. Representing the American people and future generations, we must continue to accelerate our efforts to maintain a cleaner, safer, and healthier planet,” Biden said.
The $300 billion in the agreement will flow to poorer countries to help them transition from coal, oil, and natural gas to clean energy sources, while also assisting these countries in coping with increasingly severe extreme weather events. However, this amount is far below the $1.3 trillion that developing countries had requested.
Some delegations expressed that the direction of this agreement is correct and hope that more funds will flow in the future.
“This has been a challenging journey, but we have reached an agreement,” said Simon Stiell, the head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “This agreement will sustain the flourishing development of clean energy and protect the lives of billions of people.”
“In the face of worsening climate impacts in each country, this new financing target is a kind of insurance policy for humanity,” Stiell remarked.
While some attending representatives applauded the agreement’s approval in the COP29 plenary hall, representatives from other countries criticized affluent nations for not taking more action. Additionally, they criticized the host country, Azerbaijan, for haphazardly passing this controversial plan.
At the closing ceremony of the summit, Chandni Raina, a representative of the Indian delegation, criticized the inadequate funding provided by the agreement. Raina stated, “I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an illusion. We believe that it cannot address the enormous challenges we collectively face. Therefore, we oppose adopting this document.”
Apart from India, more developing countries raised similar criticisms.
At last year’s United Nations climate summit, countries pledged to phase out fossil fuels within this decade and double the generation of renewable energy. However, the latest agreement on Sunday failed to provide detailed steps on how countries will fulfill this commitment.