No objection to decision on NCQG at COP29 in Baku

There was no formal objection to the decision on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) at COP29 in Baku last year,Yalchin Rafiyev, Lead Negotiator for COP29 Azerbaijan said in among the first comments by the organisers on the controversial climax to the talks.

- Jayashree Nandi

HT reported on November 25 that the COP29 climate talks ended in unprecedented acrimony even as India led a fierce pushback against what it called a "stage-managed" climate finance deal, moments after the Azerbaijan Presidency hastily gavelled through a contentious proposal amid celebrations, with UN and COP29 Presidency officials embracing.

India sought the floor before the decision was adopted but the cue was not given to India. This led to gavelling of an NCQG text which decided to set a goal of at least $300 billion per year by 2035 for developing country parties for climate action, with developed countries "taking the lead" in contributing. India was the first to reject the decision for not reflecting the priorities of the Global South — a dismissal since endorsed by several developing countries and blocs including the Like-Minded Developing Countries and Nigeria.

But Rafiyev insisted that the deal was acceptable to everyone.