Then official agreement at climate summit in Baku: compromise approved, rich countries promise “at least” 300 billion per year

The Azerbaijani presidency at the UN climate summit COP29 in Baku presented the new compromise text on the new target for international climate financing (NCQG in climate jargon) late on Saturday evening. This, just like the previous text that circulated, mentions 300 billion dollars that will flow to developing countries by 2035. To this end, developed countries will “take the lead”, but private money and “alternative sources of financing” may also contribute.

The same paragraph now also explicitly refers to the entire Article 9 of the Paris Climate Agreement, which includes both direct payments from rich countries to developing countries and the mobilization of financial flows.

All this should contribute to mobilizing EUR 1,300 billion by 2035 to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and adapt to the consequences of climate change (adaptation). Developing countries are in turn “encouraged” to contribute to that total amount, albeit purely on a voluntary basis.

With that “compromise”, Azerbaijan still hoped for a successful agreement to conclude the overdue climate summit, after a day of chaos and uncertainty. That has now been achieved. (Read more below the photo)

Chaos and uncertainty

Throughout Saturday it was still highly “uncertain” – according to European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra – whether the climate summit would succeed. As the hours passed, hopes for an ambitious agreement dwindled visibly. The planned final meeting was postponed after the Aosis negotiating group, which brings together the least developed countries and island states, left the meeting room of the COP presidency around 2 p.m. Belgian time. “We don’t feel heard,” he said.

At that time there was talk of a package of 250 billion dollars, which was later adjusted to 300 billion. But according to Aosis, at least 500 billion is needed. The atmosphere did not improve when it was later revealed that the oil state Saudi Arabia had been given access to the texts in advance in order to amend them. “This way of working can undermine the entire climate summit,” says Catherine Abreu, director of International Climate Politics Hub. The Guardian.

Carbon markets

The final meeting started around 5 p.m. Chairman Mukhtar Babayev called on participating countries to do their best. “The eyes of the world are on us. Unfortunately, time is not on our side, so I ask you to go a step further in your commitment so that we can build bridges between what divides us.”

The plenary meeting reached a first partial agreement on carbon markets – one of the important side files at the COP. By operationalizing Article 6, countries can sell carbon credits for removing greenhouse gases from the air or not emitting them to other countries to help them meet their reduction targets. This is already happening, but to a very small extent. With the new rules regarding more transparency, the intention is that the carbon market will now really get off the ground. (Read more below the photo)

Companies will also be able to buy these carbon credits. The intention is that these two mechanisms, Article 6.2 and Article 6.4 respectively, help to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. But the NGOs are not really responding enthusiastically. “This mechanism is a form of climate scam and polluters should pay to clean up the mess they have caused, but instead they are given a free pass to get away with it,” An Lambrechts of Greenpeace International responded to the news agency. Belgian.

Greta Thunberg

The most important issue – climate finance – was taken over a short break. The presidency then put a new, ultimate compromise text on the table, worth 300 billion dollars. How exactly that amount should be distributed and what share should be reserved for the small island states and the least developed countries must be considered before the next climate summit COP30 in Brazil.

Developing countries are in turn “encouraged” to contribute to the mobilization target, but these contributions are anyway outside the total amount of 300 billion dollars. Moreover, these contributions remain purely voluntary.

The amount does not seem to be high enough for the activists who traveled along. They have been voicing their dissatisfaction in Baku for days. Activists from the citizen movement Rise for Climate also spoke out in Brussels on Saturday, disappointed about the “failure” of Baku.

Greta Thunberg, the world’s best-known climate activist, sees another missed opportunity. On social media, she called the draft texts “a disaster” before they were approved. There are hardly any expectations, writes the Swedish woman. “Our leaders are once again reaching an agreement on the death penalty for the countless people who will see their lives destroyed by the climate crisis.”

Replacement

The agreement was finally canceled late on Saturday evening. The new financing objective will be evaluated during the next global stocktake in 2028 and another evaluation moment will follow in 2030.

The new target replaces the target that was defeated at COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. Then developed countries committed to raising $100 billion by 2020. However, according to figures from the OECD, that target was not achieved until 2022.