Chasing the chimera?

COP29 in Baku proved disappointing for developing countries as developed nations backtracked on financial commitments, offering merely USD 300 billion instead of proposed USD 1.3 trillion annually

- KDP RAO

The climate talks at COP29 in Baku, concluded this month, left several developing countries disappointed as developed nations backtracked on the earlier agreement of USD 1.3 trillion annually for vulnerable countries, agreeing instead to just USD 300 billion per year. However, the resolution frames this as tripling the previous year's agreement of USD 100 billion in Dubai.

The agreement, now referred to as the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), aims to secure efforts to scale up finance to developing countries from public and private sources, to the amount of USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035 in the form of grants and low-interest loans from developed nations and international mega-banks, like the World Bank.

When EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the deal as marking a new era for climate cooperation and finance, US President Joe Biden termed it a historic outcome. However, the developing countries sulked over the perfunctory attitude of the developed countries, so much so that they staged a walkout during the talks. Leading the Global South, India strongly protested, calling the deal an optical illusion, while Nigeria called the figure of USD 300 billion a joke. Mohamed Adow, the Kenyan director of Power Shift Africa, a think tank, said that the rich world staged a great escape in Baku by shirking their climate finance obligations.

Sierra Leone's Environment Minister, Jiwoh Abdulai, said it shows a lack of goodwill from rich countries to stand by the world's poorest as they confront rising seas and harsher droughts. At the same time, Nigeria's envoy Nkiruka Maduekwe called it an insult. The disheartenment is veritable.