COP29 Climate Summit Ends With $300B Pledge That UN Chief Calls ‘Base to Build on’

In an agreement struck during overtime at the United Nations COP29 Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, the world’s wealthiest nations agreed to a combined annual contribution of at least $300 billion to assist developing nations with tackling the impacts of the climate crisis.

Developing nations had sought more than $1 trillion per year in assistance, and called the deal “insultingly low,” arguing it would not provide enough essential resources to adequately address climate change, reported UN News.

“An agreement at COP29 was absolutely essential to keep the 1.5 degree limit alive,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement. “I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome – on both finance and mitigation – to meet the great challenge we face. But this agreement provides a base on which to build.”

Following two weeks of negotiations, COP29 delegates agreed to the annual climate financing pledge, with an overarching funding target of “at least $1.3 trillion by 2035,” UN News said.

The existing $100 billion funding target is set to expire next year and will be replaced with the new collective quantified goal (NCQG).

The NCQG “must be honoured in full and on time. Commitments must quickly become cash. All countries must come together to ensure the top-end of this new goal is met,” Guterres said.

While cheers and applause followed the announcement, many nations were frustrated.

“The amount that is proposed to be mobilised is abysmally poor. It’s a paltry sum,” Leela Nandan, India’s secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, told the conference, as BBC News reported.

Small island nations also expressed dismay with the $300 billion deal.

“After this COP29 ends, we cannot just sail off into the sunset. We are literally sinking,” a small island nations representative said, as reported by UN News. The representative added that the result highlighted “what a very different boat our vulnerable countries are in, compared to the developed countries.”

African countries were disappointed with the outcome, which Sierra Leone’s representative said “signals a lack of goodwill by developed countries,” adding that the agreement was “less than a quarter of what science shows is needed and barely enough to forestall a climate catastrophe.”

Striking a more positive tone regarding the new goal, a European Union representative said it “simply will bring much, much more private money on the table, and that is what we need. And with these funds, we are confident we will reach the 1.3 trillion objective.”

In a speech on Sunday, Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change executive secretary, described the new financing target as “an insurance policy for humanity.”

“This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing and protect billions of lives. It will help all countries to share in the huge benefits of bold climate action: more jobs, stronger growth, cheaper and cleaner energy for all.  But like any insurance policy – it only works – if the premiums are paid in full, and on time,” Stiell said.

At the climate summit, nations agreed on rules for a global carbon market backed by the UN to facilitate the trading of carbon credits. However, some have expressed fears that the carbon credit scheme will lead to the greenwashing of countries’ climate goals.

“These latest international talks failed to solve the question of climate finance,” said Mike Childs, head of policy at Friends of the Earth, as BBC News reported. “Instead they have again kicked the can down the road.”