COP29: Countries 'still far from agreement', European negotiators say

COP29, the United Nations climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, is not going as smoothly as hoped. A draft agreement was unanimously rejected on Tuesday by developing countries, who said the text favoured developed countries too much. Two successive versions of a draft agreement emerged on Wednesday, leaving several options on the table.

Jacob Werksman, the EU's chief negotiator, told a press conference on Thursday that "it is clear that we are still far from an agreement", adding that "the EU remains confident that we can complete the work in time".

"It is clear that we are still far from an agreement"

This year's climate summit hinges on the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance. At COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, it was agreed that rich, developed countries would provide 100 billion dollars a year in climate finance by 2020 to help poorer countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.

1,300 billion dollars

But according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, this amount was only reached in 2022. Moreover, most of the money came in the form of loans that will eventually flow back to rich countries. Parties must therefore agree on a new target. Developing countries are asking for more than 10 times as much, 1,300 billion dollars a year.

"It is clear that such a sum cannot come primarily from public funds," said Jennifer Morgan, state secretary and special envoy for International Climate Policy at the German Foreign Office on Thursday. She called for "inviting private investment to the table" and a "new approach to climate finance" championed by rich countries.

^{Jennifer Morgan © PHOTO JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP}

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