The UN climate talks ended on Saturday night in Baku, Azerbaijan, following two weeks of intense negotiations, whose primary focus was establishing a new finance goal. The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) was aimed at ensuring developed nations provide the necessary financial support for developing nations towards mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.
However, developing nations are leaving Baku a disgruntled lot, frustrated with a drawn-out process that has fallen well short of delivering the at least $1 trillion figure in grant-based climate finance they were aiming for.
Instead, the outcome only proposes the “paltry” amount of $300 billion annually by 2035, which accounts for only 30% of the resources demanded by developing nations and owed to them by the developed world. It is also of note that this amount is expected to have a significant decrease by 3035 due to inflation. Furthermore, the deal includes loans, despite the recognition of the need for grants.
Developed nations also attempted to shift responsibility to developing nations to mobilise more domestic resources disregarding historical emissions and the disproportionate financial burden borne by climate-vulnerable nations.
This inequity was further compounded by the pervasive influence of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP29, raising concerns about how their presence undermines interventions aimed at addressing the climate crisis.
In a swift reaction, Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: “At COP29, developed nations once again coerced developing countries into accepting a financial deal woefully inadequate to address the gravity of our global climate crisis. The deal fails to provide the critical support required for developing countries to transition swiftly from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy systems, or to prepare for the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, leaving them severely under-resourced.
“The outcome offers false hope to those already bearing the brunt of climate disasters and abandons vulnerable communities and nations, leaving them to face these immense challenges alone. We must persist in our fight, demanding a significant increase in financing and holding developed countries to account for delivering real, impactful actions.”
Mohamed Adow, Director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, said: “This COP has been a disaster for the developing world. It’s a betrayal of both people and planet, by wealthy countries who claim to take climate change seriously.
“Rich countries have promised to ‘mobilise’ some funds in the future, rather than provide them now. The cheque is in the mail. But lives and livelihoods in vulnerable countries are being lost now. At this ‘Finance COP’ not a single dollar of real climate finance has been provided right now.
“Not only did the global north impose a low-ball finance figure, it comes into force 11 years from now. This deal is too little, too late.
“The rich world staged a great escape in Baku. With no real money on the table, and vague and unaccountable promises of funds to be mobilised, they are trying to shirk their climate finance obligations. Leaving the world without the resources needed to avert climate catastrophe.
Poor countries needed to see clear, grant based, climate finance that would boost their ability to deal with the impacts of the climate crisis and accelerate their decarbonisation efforts. But that was sorely lacking.
“On the one hand the US is forcing the global south to accept a low finance figure in Baku because they say the Donald Trump administration will give even less next year. But at the same time, they are promising a ‘roadmap’ to mobilising $1.3 trillion in private finance next year in Brazil, when it will be a Trump appointed team representing the US.
“Baku will also be remembered for enabling rich polluters to cheat their way out of actual emission reductions through the use of dubious pollution permit markets. The carbon market rules will allow the richest to continue polluting, placing at risk the 1.5C target, while shifting the burden to developing countries.
“This has been a shamefully led summit by Azerbaijan which deserves to be a global embarrassment for the wealthy countries and the COP president that facilitated them to dodge their obligations.”
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network, said: “This has been the most horrendous climate negotiations in years due to the bad faith of developed countries. This was meant to be the finance COP, but the Global North turned up with a plan to betray the Global South. In the end, we saw the same story play out, with developing countries being left little choice but to accept a bad deal. As civil society we called on developing countries to reject a bad deal, a deal that would betray the people in the Global South. We are not defeated; we will fight back home; we will be out in numbers and louder than ever. The fight is far from over.”
Ralph Regenvanu, Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment for Vanuatu, said: “After two consecutive meetings hosted by nations whose economies depend on fossil fuel extraction, we continue to migrate away from holding global warming below 1.5⁰C – the stated goal of these meetings and the 2016 Paris Agreement.
“The commitments made in Baku – the dollar amounts pledged, and the emissions reductions promised – are not enough. They were never going to be enough. And even then, based on our experience with such pledges in the past, we know they will not be fulfilled.
“Just before the September United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Europe was hammered by unprecedented rain and flooding. Two months later, New York City was plagued by historic drought and brushfires. All throughout, large swathes of the Amazon rainforest burned hot enough to generate national emergencies. The inability of the Global North to make a dent in the climate crisis – much less derail it – is a global tragedy.”
Andreas Sieber, Policy Lead at 350.org, said: “In Baku, we saw the future of our planet and the dignity of countless lives diminished to the minimum, a concession to wealthy governments determined to evade their moral and financial responsibilities. What was presented as progress was, in reality, the lowest common denominator.
“Rich nations, led by the EU, USA, and Japan, failed to rise above this mediocrity, neglecting their historical responsibility. Their reluctance to prioritise ambition and equity leaves the most vulnerable without meaningful protection for their rights, lands, and future. The failure of this agreement underscores a troubling truth: those with the greatest capacity to lead continue to fall short when it matters most.”
Namrata Chowdhary, Head of Public Engagement at 350.org, said: “Once again, inequity has driven a hard bargain that the vulnerable have no choice but to accept. Rich countries have failed to honour their responsibilities and shown up with rigid unwillingness to meet this moment with the ambition required to address the climate crisis. As this deal gets pushed through in this dark, disappointing moment, we continue to stand in solidarity with those most impacted by both – a crisis they did not cause, and a result they could not influence.
“This deal has failed to meet the ambition needed, but as we’ve seen over the past two weeks in the halls of the COP venue and the many actions held across the world, hope and ambition are alive and well in the climate movement. We are already looking ahead and preparing to build new momentum in the global movement for climate justice, with a wave of campaigns and mobilisations focused on real solutions to the climate crisis.”
