COP29 releases new plan on NCQG

The UN summit on climate change (COP29) on Wednesday released a new draft of the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) after the first version was rejected by developing countries.

- Puja Das

"The version released on Tuesday seems obviously written for developed countries to get out of grant or concessional financing responsibilities by allowing any investments (even non-concessional) to be counted towards the goal," Arun Krishnan, climate finance expert, said.

Mint last week reported India's plan to leverage its climate commitments to pitch for grants and concessional loans, instead of investments for the Global South, at the global climate negotiations in Baku as the developed nations were pushing for investments more.

Developing countries require up to $1.5 trillion a year for their unique climate needs and net zero transition, according to various estimates. However, the loss and damage fund negotiated at an earlier summit has failed to take off after being operationalised.