This Monday the COP29 kicks off, the United Nations Climate Change Conference of 2024. This edition takes place in the city of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
The central theme of the most relevant event in climate-related issues this year will be none other than financing. In other words, who should contribute to help poor nations, and especially how much.
The starting point in the discussions is $100 billion per year that nations designated as “poor” (according to a classification from the 1990s) currently receive as part of an agreement from 2009 that has barely been fulfilled.
While experts suggest the need is for $1 trillion per year or more, the debates are just beginning.
COP29 in Azerbaijan: how the world is approaching
What to expect from COP29.
Controlling and addressing the deterioration caused by heatwaves, floods, droughts, and storms due to climate change will cost trillions of dollars. And the less powerful nations do not have them, as numerous reports and experts estimate.
But this year’s summit, known as COP29, will not be as prominent as last year’s, with 48 fewer interventions by heads of state. The leaders of the two countries emitting the most carbon dioxide (China and the United States) will be absent.
As the United Nations climate negotiations kick off on Monday, the main question is who should contribute to help poor nations, and especially how much.
“It’s a high-stakes game,” said Bill Hare, a physicist and CEO of Climate Analytics. “Right now, the fate of the planet depends a lot on what we achieve in the next five or 10 years,” he added in a conversation with AP.
It’s not only that dealing with money is always a delicate issue, but also that two of the countries expected to donate money, like the United States and Germany, are going through drastic governmental changes.
Who should finance the consequences of climate change
Although the U.S. delegation will be from the Joe Biden administration, the reelection of Donald Trump, who downplays climate change and is not in favor of foreign aid, makes it likely that U.S. commitments will not be met.
The main issue is climate financing. Without it, experts say, the world cannot control global warming, nor can most nations achieve their current goals of reducing carbon dioxide pollution or the new ones they will present next year.
“If we don’t solve the financial problem, we definitely won’t solve the climate problem,” said Pablo Vieira, former climate deputy minister of Colombia. Vieira leads the support unit at NDC Partnership, which assists nations with emission reduction goals.
“Poor nations are frustrated because they are told to do more to combat climate change when they can’t afford it,” he expressed. And the 47 poorest nations emitted just 4% of the gases trapping heat in the air (GHGs), according to the UN.
Approximately 77% of the gas currently trapping heat in the atmosphere comes from rich G20 nations, many of which are now reducing their pollution, something that is not happening in most poor nations or in China.
Purposes of the financing
Financing is to address the effects of climate change.
The money being discussed is for three objectives. Helping nations transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy; helping them adapt to the effects of global warming; and compensating vulnerable nations for the damages of climate change.
“If the global community does not reach a (financial) goal, this is really just signing the death warrant for many developing countries,” said Chukwumerije Okereke, director of the Center for Climate Change and Development in Nigeria.
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