The UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan closed on Saturday with a new finance goal: to triple public finance to developing countries, from the previous goal of USD 100 billion annually, to USD 300 billion annually by 2035. Dubbed the ‘finance COP’, COP29’s outcome was heavily criticized for failing to deliver to the Global South. State and non-state stakeholders had been calling for not less than USD 1 trillion annually from wealthy and historically polluting countries, in the form of grants. “The outcomes of COP29 are a mixed bag for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The new climate finance goal of USD 300 billion by 2035 is deeply insufficient to address the urgent climate adaptation and mitigation needs, as well as for responding to loss and damage in a region already grappling with rising temperatures, water scarcity, and desertification,” Political Campaign lead at Greenpeace MENA Hanen Keskes told Egyptian Streets. “Without a commitment by developed countries to providing grant-based public finance rather than loans, the burden will disproportionately fall on developing countries, including those in MENA, which are among the most vulnerable to climate change while…
COP29 Underdelivers with $300bn Deal: ‘A Betrayal of Both People and Planet’
November 24, 2024
