‘It’s a joke’: $250bn climate finance offer met with scorn at COP29 

Negotiations at the COP29 climate conference have extended into overtime after an offer by wealthy countries to provide $250bn a year in climate financing for developing countries was roundly rejected.

The presidency of the global talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, released a draft finance deal on Friday, which it insisted was a result of “an extensive and inclusive consultation process”.

It said developed countries would provide $250bn annually by 2035 to developing or poor nations to deal with damage from climate change and to adapt to that change.

But the figure, which came as a modest upgrade to the $100bn annual pledge that was agreed 15 years ago and is ending this year, angered many representatives of developing countries who said their rich counterparts are refusing to take responsibility for the climate crisis they have caused. Vulnerable nations are seeking $1.3 trillion annually.

The annual two weeks of United Nations climate talks were scheduled to end at 6pm (14:00 GMT) on Friday, but the negotiations were continuing into the evening with little sign of an agreement in sight.

Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at COP29 on November 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan [Sergei Grits/AP Photo]

Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, the representative for Panama, described the $250bn offer as “outrageous” and said it is a “spit on the face of vulnerable nations like mine”.

Similar expressions of indignation, disappointment and concern came from envoys of other countries from across the globe, including some of the island nations that would likely be first to fall victim to rising sea levels and other adverse impacts of climate change.

There was also no guarantee that the money, which is expected to be raised by both governments and the private sector, would flow through grants. That could mean more loans that accrue debt for developing countries.

Nongovernmental organisations and campaigners were also unhappy with the offer. The Climate Action Network International, a network of 1,900 civil society groups in more than 130 countries, described it as a “joke”.

Some representatives from richer countries signalled they were unwilling to go higher than $250bn while others like Australia described the draft put forward by the Azerbaijani presidency as “a genuine attempt”.

“This is not a landing ground yet, but at least we’re not up in the air without a map,” Germany’s climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was back in Azerbaijan after a trip to Brazil, has been trying to push the negotiators to seal a deal.

COP29 lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev, who is Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister, said the presidency hopes to push for a higher number because the $250bn figure does not “correspond to our fair and ambitious goal”.

The summit is taking place as extreme climate-related phenomena, including floods and storms, are claiming lives, displacing countless people and inflicting damage across the globe. This year is on track to become the hottest on record.

The Paris climate agreement in 2015 set a goal to cap rising global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, strengthen climate resilience and ensure financial investments.