By AFP - Agence France Presse
COP29 - Azerbaijan
Key points of the $300 billion climate agreement
The agreement reached at the UN climate talks in Azerbaijan increases the money that historically rich emitters will provide to help poorer nations transition to cleaner energy and adapt to global warming.
Here are the main points of the agreement reached at COP29 in Baku:
- US$ 300 billion -
Under a framework established by the UN in 1992, 23 developed countries—and the European Union—historically responsible for most of the planet's warming gas emissions are obliged to contribute to climate finance.
The Baku agreement increases the money developed countries must provide to at least $300 billion a year by 2035.
This figure is higher than the $100 billion required under a previous agreement until next year.
However, it falls far short of the $500 billion that some developing countries demanded during the difficult negotiations in Baku.
The agreement states that the money will come directly from a “wide variety of sources,” including government budgets, private sector investments, and other funding.
It also cites “alternative sources” - a reference to possible global taxes under discussion on the aviation and maritime sectors and the wealthy.
The hope is that the money from developed countries will help boost private investment to meet an ambitious target - included in the agreement - of delivering at least $1.3 trillion a year by the next decade.
This is the amount that experts commissioned by the United Nations said was needed by 2035.
“With these funds and with this framework, we are confident that we will reach the 1.3 trillion target,” EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told fellow COP29 delegates.
- China's role
The United States and the EU have pushed to broaden the donor base to include countries that are still listed as developing but have now become wealthy, such as China and Saudi Arabia.
But China, the world's second-largest economy and the main emitter of greenhouse gases, has firmly refused to change its status, pointing out that it already provides bilateral aid.
The agreement states that the developed nations would be “taking the lead” in providing the 300 billion dollars - implying that others could join in.
The text “encourages” developing countries to “make contributions” that would remain “voluntary.”
There was one novelty: the climate finance that developing countries, such as China, provide through multilateral development banks will count towards the $300 billion target.
“It is also a matter of justice and importance for us that all those who can do so contribute,” said Hoekstra.
“So it's good, given the size of the problem, that we broaden the base of contributors voluntarily.”
- Part of the money - You were also the subject of disagreements in the negotiations.
The negotiations were also the scene of disagreements in the developing world.
The bloc of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) asked to receive $220 billion a year, while the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) wanted $39 billion - demands opposed by other developing nations.
The amounts were not included in the final agreement.
Instead, the agreement provides for a tripling of other public funds they receive by 2030.
The next COP, in Brazil in 2025, is expected to issue a report on how to increase climate finance for these countries.
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