Nations still out of sync on COP29 finance goal

NEW DELHI: As this year’s COP29 UN climate negotiations remain less than three months away, nations are still far from agreement on the summit's biggest task: to agree on a new funding target to help developing countries cope with climate change.

On Thursday, the UN climate body published a negotiations document to set out the splits between nations, ahead of a meeting in Baku next month, where negotiators will attempt to advance some of the stickiest issues.

The document suggests seven options reflecting countries' competing positions for a possible COP29 deal. The new target is set to replace wealthy nations' current commitment to provide 100 billion dollars every year in climate finance to developing countries.

A far larger goal than 100 billion dollars is needed by the vulnerable and developing countries. Donor countries such as the 27 nation EU and Canada state that stretching national budgets would make it unrealistic to increase their public funding.

The COP29 summit will be held in Azerbaijan in November.

One option in the document reflects the stance of Arab countries, aiming for the developed countries to provide 441 billion Dollars each year in grants, combined to accumulate a total 1.1 trillion dollars in funding from all sources, including private finance, each year from 2025 to 2029.

Another option reflects the EU's negotiating perspective by setting a global climate funding target of more than 1 trillion Dollars each year, including countries' domestic investments and private funding, which would also include a lesser amount provided by countries "with high greenhouse gas emissions and economic capabilities".

The EU has demanded that China, which is the world's biggest polluter and biggest economy today, should contribute to the new climate funding goal.

Under a system that was developed in the 1990s, China is categorized as a developing country by the UN. However, the idea that it should be on the hook to pay climate finance is rejected by Beijing.

Negotiators expect that the issue of who should contribute is becoming one of the biggest hurdles to agreeing a finance deal at COP29.

Another option in the document, supporting Canada's position, suggests to change the list of the contributors to the target. It says that the list should be based on their per-capita emissions and income, a measure that could also add the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and others to the contributor list.

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