BAKU - The main task for nearly 200 countries at the U.N.'s COP29 climate summit is to broker a deal that ensures up to trillions of dollars in financing for climate projects worldwide.Wealthy countries pledged in 2009 to contribute $100 billion a year to help developing nations cope with the costs of a transition to clean energy and adapting to the conditions of a warming world.
Instead, they are circling around the idea of a multi-layered target, with a core amount from wealthy countries' government coffers, and a larger sum that includes financing from other sources such as multilateral lending institutions or private investors.Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election has overshadowed the COP29 talks, because of expectations he will halt U.S. climate finance contributions.
So far, only a few dozen rich countries have been obliged to pay U.N. climate finance and they want fast-developing nations, such as China and Gulf oil nations to start paying as well. By most estimates, developing countries need more than $1 trillion per year to meet their climate goals and protect their societies from extreme weather.Arab countries including Saudi Arabia want a funding target of $1.1 trillion per year, with $441 billion directly from developed country governments in grants.
Some developed country diplomats say that, with national budgets already stretched by other economic pressures, a major increase beyond $100 billion is unrealistic.Climate change has accelerated. Human activities - mainly, burning fossil fuels - have heated up the planet's long-term average temperature by around 1.3 Celsius, turbocharging disastrous floods, hurricanes and extreme heatwaves.