Deep divisions persist as negotiations enter the final week at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP29) here, where world leaders and negotiators from 196 nations are attempting to set a new climate finance target to help poorer countries shift to clean energy and adapt to climate change.
A new report from a UN-backed expert group on climate finance floated the idea that global climate action would require at least $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 to help developing countries like the Philippines manage climate impacts. The New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance will replace the $100 billion per year commitment to developing countries by 2025. Rich countries, including the United States and members of the European Union, acknowledge that trillions of dollars are needed but argue about who should contribute to it, which nations should receive the money, and how the funds are to be allocated.
“Climate finance is not charity. It is 100 percent in every nation’s interest to protect their economies and people from rampant climate impacts. So countries must wrap up less contentious issues early in the week, so there is enough time for the major political decision,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell at a press conference on Tuesday.
This story was produced as part of the 2024 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews' Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security. It was first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on November 20, 2024.
Banner image: A mostly empty corridor at the COP29 venue / Credit: UN Climate Change -
Imelda Abano
