The COP29 draft was presented this Thursday morning and generated numerous criticisms from multiple countries. Among the main criticisms, the lack of a specific amount stands out, considering that the main focus this year is financing.
The document aims to lay the groundwork for any agreement reached in the UN climate negotiations. It aims to define the funds for developing countries to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change.
The main criticism of the COP29 draft
The draft omits a crucial point: how much will rich nations pay to poor countries. In the space for the minimum amount that donors are willing to pay, only a placeholder “X” appears.
Part of the reason is that developed nations have not yet made a concrete offer in the negotiations.
COP29 in Baku.
Negotiators at the summit in Baku are trying to close the gap between the $1.3 trillion that the developing world claims it needs in climate financing and the few hundred billion that negotiators say the wealthier nations have been willing to pay.
Colombia’s Minister of Environment, Susana Mohamed, stated that without a specific figure offered by developed countries, “we are not negotiating anything”.
On his part, Panamanian Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez described the situation as a “lack of commitment to transparency like a slap in the face to the most vulnerable”.
Gómez listed the places where negotiators worked on the issue: South Africa, Germany, the Philippines, Egypt, Austria, Switzerland, Dubai, Colombia, and “sometimes here in Baku”. In that line, he questioned: “For God’s sake, what is the next stop? Mars? Do we need to go to outer space to get a quantitative figure from developed countries in order to start negotiating here?”.
Esa Ainuu from the small island of Niue in the Pacific also criticized the lack of a specific amount in the draft agreement. “For us in the Pacific, this is crucial,” she stated. “We cannot escape to the desert. We cannot escape elsewhere. This is our reality. If finances do not bring anything positive, why do we come to the COP?”, she added.
The EU’s climate envoy, Wopke Hoekstra, described the draft as “unbalanced, unworkable, and unacceptable”.
COP’s response
Negotiations at COP29: climate financing.
In a statement, the COP29 presidency clarified that the drafts “are not final”. In that vein: “The door of the COP29 presidency is always open, and we welcome any mediation proposals that the parties wish to present”.
It added that possible figures for a financial target will be published in the next version of the draft.
COP29 President, Mukhtar Babayev, convened a qurultay (a traditional Azerbaijani meeting) where negotiators would speak to listen to all sides and seek a compromise. He said, “After hearing all opinions, we will outline a path forward regarding future iterations”.
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