Developing nations must continue to demand climate finance in defiance of the COP29 outcome

In November 2024, the annual climate conference in Baku ended with a railroaded climate finance deal that has been widely condemned as inadequate and unjust.

- BY LIDY NACPIL

The new deal, $300 billion per year by 2035, fell far short of the multiple trillions of public finances needed to build renewable energy capacity, phase out fossil fuels, adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis, address loss and damage, and ensure a just transition. This insulting amount was not even a commitment, merely a target, and would be an unacceptable mix of private investments, loans, and public funds. The dire inadequacy of international climate finance has left developing countries in crisis as they develop plans to deal with the impacts of the climate crisis and reduce emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

On Feb. 10 this year, the deadline for governments' climate plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), passed with only 10 countries' submissions. In anticipation of the missed deadline, the UN Climate Change Executive Director, Simon Stiell announced a last-minute extension until September to give other countries more time to ensure the quality of the NDC submissions, which he described as "among the most important policy documents that governments can produce this century."