The Fort Worth Press - Climate finance billions at stake at COP29

USD -
AED 3.673005
AFN 68.386442
ALL 93.021933
AMD 389.349314
ANG 1.803734
AOA 913.000031
ARS 1002.721397
AUD 1.53358
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.702057
BAM 1.854577
BBD 2.020785
BDT 119.602116
BGN 1.858799
BHD 0.376916
BIF 2956.030306
BMD 1
BND 1.344124
BOB 6.930721
BRL 5.790848
BSD 1.000863
BTN 84.433613
BWP 13.672612
BYN 3.275301
BYR 19600
BZD 2.017372
CAD 1.39639
CDF 2864.999911
CHF 0.88374
CLF 0.035265
CLP 973.069559
CNY 7.241401
CNH 7.24719
COP 4396.59
CRC 508.251983
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.558213
CZK 24.0877
DJF 178.22092
DKK 7.087555
DOP 60.364405
DZD 133.750861
EGP 49.678296
ERN 15
ETB 124.782215
EUR 0.950275
FJD 2.269701
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.791103
GEL 2.740301
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.887842
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000247
GNF 8627.008472
GTQ 7.726299
GYD 209.391416
HKD 7.782965
HNL 25.291226
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.472895
HUF 390.756993
IDR 15903.25
ILS 3.732285
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.493503
IQD 1311.043259
IRR 42092.505939
ISK 138.290123
JEP 0.789317
JMD 158.639851
JOD 0.709302
JPY 154.656495
KES 129.249619
KGS 86.506766
KHR 4038.536303
KMF 467.499881
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1398.125025
KWD 0.30759
KYD 0.834076
KZT 497.17423
LAK 21976.521459
LBP 89633.50686
LKR 291.187013
LRD 181.150969
LSL 18.152914
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.883414
MAD 9.998293
MDL 18.214834
MGA 4685.233124
MKD 58.48862
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.024142
MRU 39.785889
MUR 46.412517
MVR 15.460006
MWK 1735.461174
MXN 20.325297
MYR 4.464971
MZN 63.950307
NAD 18.152914
NGN 1680.590024
NIO 36.829479
NOK 11.03348
NPR 135.09167
NZD 1.703345
OMR 0.385001
PAB 1.000778
PEN 3.7981
PGK 4.029035
PHP 59.039501
PKR 278.226704
PLN 4.126669
PYG 7838.117183
QAR 3.649699
RON 4.729799
RSD 111.205995
RUB 101.000437
RWF 1380.157217
SAR 3.754257
SBD 8.355531
SCR 13.619994
SDG 601.497088
SEK 11.030315
SGD 1.343699
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.575045
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.975839
SRD 35.43028
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.757041
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.142596
THB 34.647019
TJS 10.658746
TMT 3.5
TND 3.159078
TOP 2.342102
TRY 34.465475
TTD 6.776157
TWD 32.567494
TZS 2652.359028
UAH 41.269214
UGX 3693.413492
UYU 42.784805
UZS 12854.406494
VES 46.433371
VND 25422.5
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 622.001915
XAG 0.032192
XAU 0.000375
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.761528
XOF 622.001915
XPF 113.087675
YER 249.924998
ZAR 18.116198
ZMK 9001.198706
ZMW 27.697968
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0800

    6.61

    -1.21%

  • CMSC

    -0.0450

    24.52

    -0.18%

  • CMSD

    -0.0836

    24.26

    -0.34%

  • SCS

    -0.0200

    13.07

    -0.15%

  • BCC

    -0.7700

    137.41

    -0.56%

  • GSK

    -0.1100

    33.35

    -0.33%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    45.11

    -0.4%

  • BCE

    -0.3100

    27

    -1.15%

  • NGG

    -0.3100

    63.27

    -0.49%

  • RIO

    -0.0400

    62.39

    -0.06%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.23

    -0.23%

  • BP

    -0.0100

    29.08

    -0.03%

  • VOD

    0.0200

    8.94

    +0.22%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    37.08

    +0.4%

  • AZN

    -0.6000

    63.2

    -0.95%

Climate finance billions at stake at COP29
Climate finance billions at stake at COP29 / Photo: © AFP

Climate finance billions at stake at COP29

Rich nations will be under pressure at this month's UN COP29 conference to substantially increase the amount of money they give to poorer countries for climate action.

Text size:

But there is deep disagreement over how much is needed, who should pay and what should be covered, ensuring that "climate finance" will top the agenda at COP29 in Baku.

- What is climate finance? -

It is the buzzword in this year's negotiations, which run from November 11 to 22, but there is not one agreed definition of climate finance.

In general terms, it is money spent in a manner "consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development", as per phrasing used in the Paris Agreement.

That includes government or private money for clean energy like solar and wind, technology like electric vehicles, or adaptation measures like dykes to hold back rising seas.

But could a subsidy for a new water-efficient hotel, for example, be counted? It is not something the COP summits have addressed directly.

At the annual UN negotiations, climate finance has come to refer to the difficulties the developing world faces getting the money it needs to prepare for global warming.

- Who pays? -

Under a 1992 UN accord, a handful of rich countries most responsible for global warming were obligated to provide finance.

In 2009, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Britain, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand and Australia agreed to pay $100 billion per year by 2020.

They only achieved this for the first time in 2022. The delay eroded trust and fuelled accusations that rich countries were shirking their responsibility.

At COP29, nearly 200 nations are expected to agree on a new finance goal beyond 2025.

India has called for $1 trillion a year and some other proposals go higher, but countries on the hook want other major economies to chip in.

They argue times have changed and the big industrialised nations of the early 1990s represent just 30 percent of historic greenhouse gas emissions today.

In particular, there is a push for China -- the world's largest polluter today -- and the oil-rich Gulf countries to pay. They do not accept this proposal.

- What's being negotiated? -

Experts commissioned by the UN estimate that developing countries, excluding China, will need $2.4 trillion per year by 2030.

But the line between climate finance, foreign aid and private capital is often blurred and campaigners are pushing for clearer terms that specify where money comes from, and in what form.

In an October letter to governments, dozens of activist, environment and scientific groups called on rich nations to pay developing countries $1 trillion a year in three clear categories.

Some $300 billion would be government money for reducing planet-heating emissions, $300 billion for adaptation measures and $400 billion for disaster relief known as "loss and damage" funds.

The signatories said all the money should be grants, seeking to redress the provision of loans as climate finance that poorer countries say compounds their debt woes.

Developed countries do not want money for "loss and damage" included under any new climate finance pact reached at COP29.

- Where will they find the money? -

Today, most climate finance aid goes through development banks or funds co-managed with the countries concerned, such as the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility.

Campaigners are very critical of the $100 billion pledge because two-thirds of the money was given as loans, not grants.

Even revised upwards, it is likely any new pledge from governments will fall well short of what is needed.

But this commitment is viewed as highly symbolic nonetheless, and crucial to unlocking other sources of money, namely private capital.

Financial diplomacy also plays out at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the G20, where this year's host Brazil wants to craft a global tax on billionaires.

The idea of new global taxes, for example on aviation or maritime transport, is also supported by France, Kenya and Barbados, with the backing of UN chief Antonio Guterres.

Redirecting fossil fuel subsidies towards clean energy or wiping the debt of poor countries in exchange for climate investments are also among the options.

COP29 host Azerbaijan, meanwhile, has asked fossil fuel producers to contribute to a new fund that would channel money to developing countries.

D.Johnson--TFWP