Low-income nations slam COP29 outcome

The COP29 climate summit, scheduled for Nov. 11–22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, ran a day overtime. For 2 weeks, negotiators from across the globe bickered over how much high-income nations—historically the biggest emitters of climate-warming greenhouse gases—must pay low-income countries, which have contributed relatively little emissions but disproportionately bear the impact of rising global temperatures. In the wee hours of Sunday, an agreement came through: $300 billion annually until 2035 in climate finance.

Minutes after the announcement, nations such as India, Bolivia, and Nigeria lambasted the deal, calling $300 billion a “paltry sum.” Chandni Raina, a negotiator for India, looked visibly enraged during the final plenary session. She said that the agreement was adopted “unfairly” and that Indian negotiators outright “reject” it.

“I regret to say that this document is an optical illusion,” Raina said. “This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document.” Leaders from Bolivia and Nigeria took to the floor in support of Raina’s words.

Raina accused the COP29 president of deliberately ignoring India’s opposition. “Gaveling and trying to ignore parties from speaking does not behoove the UNFCCC’s system,” she said, referring to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “and we would want you to hear us and also hear our objections to this adoption.”

Climate advocacy groups also criticized the deal. “The linchpin of the climate talks was public finance, and developed countries did not deliver despite their historic responsibilities,” Climate Action Network, a group of 1,800 nongovernmental organizations, said in a statement, adding that it rejected the outcome.

Even with a deal, there is no guarantee the money will come. The Paris Agreement, reached during COP21 in 2015, reiterated a prior commitment that wealthy countries would pay $100 billion per year in climate finance to less wealthy nations until 2020. That goal was met for the first time only in 2022.

The ask by low-income countries at COP29 was for $1.3 trillion annually until 2035. The figure originated with the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, which calculated that $6.5 trillion is needed annually by 2030 to meet climate targets across the globe. Several climate-focused research groups have arrived at similar figures.

The US presidential election and the choice of Azerbaijan, a significant oil-producing nation, as the conference’s location cast a shadow over the event. Many attendees expressed concern that president-elect Donald Trump, a climate change denier, would again withdraw the country from the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, Greta Thunberg, a young Swedish climate activist who skipped the summit, called the venue “beyond absurd” at a protest rally in Tbilisi, Georgia.

And several climate activists criticized the messaging of Azerbaijani officials on fossil fuels. For instance, in one session, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said that oil and gas are a “gift of God” and that countries should not be blamed for having and selling them.

The conclave also agreed on rules and regulations to kickstart a global carbon market, a contentious scheme under which governments and private entities can trade greenhouse gas emission credits. But Erika Lennon, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, a nonprofit, said the rules were approved on the first day of the conference without a thorough discussion.

COP-29 concludes near the end of a year expected to be the warmest in recorded history. In the days preceding the summit, the UN released an “emissions gap” report, which says greenhouse gas emissions are on track to cause temperatures to increase 3.1 °C by the end of the century. The report suggests disastrous consequences if the rise isn’t kept under 1.5 °C.

Marina Silva, Brazil’s environment minister, said there is no time to lose. Her country, which saw unprecedented floods this year, will host the COP30 summit next year. The focus of that event will be nationally determined contributions—commitments that individual countries make to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and control global warming.

Silva called her experience in Baku difficult. “The money that the developing countries are asking is not just for them, rather for the benefit of the entire mankind,” she said.