Global South disagrees with $250bn climate finance goal in COP29 latest draft
COP29 is in its final stretch with developed nations committing $250 billion by 2035 for climate action in the latest draft text, but that is far short of the $1.3 trillion sought, say critics.
(Baku, Azerbaijan) — As COP29 draws to a close, developed countries today proposed $250 billion per year by 2035 in the latest draft text on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for developing countries’ climate action.
This is a significantly less than the commitment request of $1.3 trillion made by developing countries to address the impacts of climate change.
According to the text released by the COP29 Presidency Azerbaijan, the final text is from a balanced and streamlined COP29 package.
“As a first reflection of Parties indications the New Collective Quantified Goal decision contains a call on all Parties to work together to scale up financing to developing countries for climate action from all public and private sources to at least USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035.
“Further, reflecting the submission of developed country parties, it includes a decision to set a goal in extension of the goal of jointly mobilising USD 100 billion per year, with developed country Parties taking the lead, to USD 250 billion by 2035 for developing country Parties for climate action,” says the statement.
However climate experts from the Global South have expressed their dissatisfaction with the updated text, which was released on Friday afternoon Baku time, following a controversial first draft the previous day.
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, described the latest draft text as not just a joke but an insult to those people in the Global South living on the frontline of the climate crisis. She said the $250 billion per year in public finance is peanuts.
“The Global South must not carry the burden of historic emitters’ failure to act. No deal is better than a bad deal – but we are not done yet.
“To essentially shift the responsibility to developing countries and the private banks with the U.S.$1.3 trillion by 2035 mobilisation goal just adds insult to injury. In the meantime, millions of people’s lives are at risk. We are angry, but we will keep fighting until the end,” she added.
Dr. Wafa Misrar, Campaigns and Policy Lead at CAN Africa, said the new NCQG text is profoundly disrespectful to the people on the front-lines of the climate crisis — those losing their lives, homes, and livelihoods every day.
“It is disheartening to witness the lack of commitment from Global North countries, who seem willing to disregard our realities. Our demands were clear, and let it be known: the proposed $250 billion is not just inadequate—it’s unacceptable.
“This is our message to developed countries: go back to your homes, revisit your priorities, and come back with real solutions that reflect the urgency of this crisis and the dignity of those most affected.”
Stephen Cornelius, the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Global Deputy Climate and Energy Lead, noted that the new draft now has a finance target, but that it completely misses the mark.
“The amount is far too low, and rich countries don’t even commit to delivering all of it. While the text accurately recognises the climate finance needs of developing countries, the public finance commitment and timeline don’t come close to meeting them.
“This simply will not be good enough, and I expect there will be fireworks when countries meet later. We need a core of public finance closer to US$1 trillion, along with additional finance from other sources, to power the transformational changes we need to limit warming to 1.5C and to increase climate resilience.”
Cornelius added that in parallel to this, all countries need to raise their ambitions on emission reductions and ensure this COP29 sends a strong signal that the age of fossil fuels must rapidly come to an end.