At the end of two weeks of heated negotiations, countries from around the world meeting in Baku approved on Sunday, November 24, an agreement providing at least $300 billion in annual financing for developing countries, which demanded much more to combat the climate change. After two nights of extensions at COP29, poor and vulnerable countries have resigned themselves to accepting this financial commitment from developed countries by 2035, which increases their current commitment of 100 billion dollars per year.
300 billion dollars per year, in ten years: developed countries committed on Saturday in Baku to more financing poor countries threatened by climate change, at the end of a chaotic conference of theUN in Azerbaijan from which the developing world leaves furious.
The financial commitment from European countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, under the auspices of the UN, is to increase from 100 to “ at least » 300 billion annually by 2035 their loans and donations to developing countries. The amount is no longer a maximum sum to be reached, but a floor which could be exceeded until, why not, reaching the famous 1,300 billion dollars initially claimed, notes our special correspondent in Baku, Jeanne Richard. What matters is that the developed countries, polluters, historically responsible for climate change, will be those who will have to pay first. China and other emerging countries will be able to participate voluntarily, without particular pressure.
Money to adapt to floods, heatwaves and droughts. But also to invest in low-carbon energies instead of developing their economies by burning coal and oil, as Western countries have done for more than a century. The money could come from multiple sources, public, private, or development bank. This was a sticking point, because the countries of the South were keen to avoid loans which risk increasing their debt. They hope that by then, the world will better see the value of paying to avoid disasters even more destructive than today.
But the agreement of the COP29sealed during the second night of overtime, left a bitter taste for many participants. The poorest countries on the planet and the island states of the Pacific, Caribbean orAfrica were asking for double that or more. Small consolation, the countries of the South managed to obtain a clause to revise this agreement within 5 years instead of 10 years. They hope that by then, the world will better see the value of paying to avoid the destructive disasters that are looming.
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The transition away from fossil fuels not explicitly mentioned
The call for “ transition » towards the exit from fossil fuels, the main achievement of the COP28 in Dubai fought by theSaudi Arabiadoes not appear explicitly in the main final texts presented at the UN climate conference, COP29, in Baku on Sunday.
The call to “ make a just, orderly and equitable transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems” had been painfully torn away in 2023. A year later, this sentence is not explicitly included in the main texts submitted to COP29 in Azerbaijan, which derives its wealth from the export of hydrocarbons.
It is only mentioned through a mention of paragraph 28 of the document adopted in 2023, which contained the formula verbatim. On the other hand, in a victory for the oil and gas countries, one of the documents published on Sunday by the Azerbaijani presidency just before a final plenary reaffirms that “ transition fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security “. A direct allusion to fossil natural gas.
The Europeans, who were hoping for more ambition in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, will also not find in the text the creation of a system for annual monitoring of transition efforts away from fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) that they were hoping for.
“ Arab group will not accept any text that targets specific sectors, including fossil fuels », Declared this week Albara Tawfiq, a Saudi official who spoke on behalf of the Arab group at the UN Climate. “ There was an extraordinary effort by the Saudis so that we obtained nothing “, choked up a European negotiator this week.
A centralized carbon credit market and carbon credit trading to achieve climate goals
Earlier, late in the afternoon, rules on carbon transactions were adopted. An adoption greeted with applause. With these texts, rich countries will now be able to meet their climate objectives by paying countries in Africa or Asia instead of reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions. Concretely, rich countries would finance activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in other states, such as planting trees or reducing the use of coal. In exchange, rich countries record the reduction in emissions in their balance sheets. This system was provided for in Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement and COP29 makes it effective.
Developing countries rely on these transactions to obtain international financing. But experts fear that these mechanisms allow states to declare themselves more virtuous than they really are and dissuade them from making efforts at home.
Besides that, article 6.4 creates a centralized carbon credit trading system, open to States and businesses. On the first day of COP29, States adopted new standards governing this market under the supervision of a UN body. Experts doubt that the quality of carbon credits, often criticized, is really better on these regulated markets.
“ No country got everything it wanted » for the head of the UN Climate, India denounces an amount “ terribly weak »
The new financial objective adopted painfully at COP29 in Baku “ is an insurance policy for humanity » faced with the impacts of climate change, but “ it’s not time to do laps of honor », Reacted Simon Stiell, head of the UN Climate. “ No country got everything it wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work to do. So it’s not time to do laps of honor “, he said.
India on Sunday denounced a deal among rich countries to provide $300 billion a year in climate finance to developing countries, saying host nation Azerbaijan had failed to address its concerns. “ The amount proposed to be raised is woefully low. It’s a pittance said Leela Nandan, an Indian civil servant, at the COP29 conference in Baku. “ India opposes the adoption of this document “, she indicated, accusing the fact that the Azerbaijani presidency refused her to speak before the final approval of the text.
The head of the African group’s negotiators, Ali Mohamed, regretted a financial commitment “ too weak ” And “ too late » : « We leave Baku knowing that we have made progress in some areas, but what we have achieved is far from what we hoped for “.
French disappointment, American satisfaction
The agreement reached on Sunday at COP29 is “ disappointing ” And ” not up to the challenges », Regretted the French Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. Despite “ several advances “, including the tripling of funding for poor countries threatened by climate change, the Baku conference was marked “ by real disorganization and a lack of leadership from the presidency » Azerbaijani, said the minister in a statement sent to AFP.
Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, Pacific archipelago threatened by rising waterswas also disappointed by the agreement: “ We came in good faith, with the safety of our communities and the well-being of the world at heart. Yet we have witnessed the worst of political opportunism here at this COP, playing with the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people […] We are leaving with a small portion of the funding that climate-vulnerable countries urgently need. This is far from enough. »
Conversely, US President Joe Biden on Saturday welcomed the COP29 agreement as a “ not important » in the fight against global warming, and pledged that America would continue its action despite the climate skeptic attitude of his successor, Donald Trump. “ While some seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution underway in America and around the world, no one can undo it – no one “, declared Joe Biden.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres does not hide his disappointment, but puts the signed agreement into perspective. “ I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome – both financially and in terms of mitigation – to meet the scale of the great challenge we face, but the agreement reached provides a foundation on which to build “, he declared on the social network X.
For Laurence Tubiana, director of the European Climate Foundation and architect of the Paris agreement, “ COP29 took place in difficult circumstances, but multilateralism is alive and more necessary than ever. The climate finance deal is not as ambitious as the moment demands. The framework it establishes provides a foundation on which to build. All countries that have the means to help must mobilize “, she declared, before adding: “ There is no turning back the UAE consensus: we will not be able to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement without a just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy efficiency. The vast majority of countries and their citizens want strong action, and governments must continue to move forward as part of a global climate coalition. »