What is climate finance and why does it matter at COP30?

Countries trying to shift to clean energy while also preparing for extreme weather and other impacts in a warmer world will need money - a lot of it. As the costs and risks of global warming escalate, the topic of climate finance has become more tense. Here's what you need to know:

- SIMON JESSOP

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stands with China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 30), in Belem, Brazil, Nov 5. REUTERS

WHAT IS CLIMATE FINANCE?

This describes all funding from governments, development banks, private investors and philanthropies aimed at helping countries cut greenhouse gas emissions or adapt to climate impacts, for example through projects in renewable energy or for flood defences.

Without climate finance, poorer countries will struggle to decarbonise their economies and protect vulnerable populations. Because these countries contributed the least in emissions, the 1992 UN climate treaty determines they should carry less of the burden of addressing the problem today.

Climate finance has become a litmus test for trust in international climate negotiations, with the amount committed by wealthy countries seen as a measure of their seriousness about addressing the crisis.

THE MAIN DISPUTES