COP29 produces streamlined climate finance draft, but key issues remain

Baku (Azerbaijan): After an all-nighter, a draft text on the new climate finance package for the developing world finally dropped Thursday morning -- shrunk from 25 pages to 10, but the major sticking points remain.

With less than two days left for the UN climate conference to close, negotiators face a gargantuan task to hammer it out.

A quick glance at the text shows developed countries are still dodging a key question: How much climate finance are they ready to give developing countries every year starting in 2025? This has led to significant frustration among developing countries, who have repeatedly said they need at least USD 1.3 trillion to tackle the escalating challenges.

"The revised draft text, while more streamlined, presents a spectrum of options -- some good, some bad, and some outright ugly," said Harjeet Singh, a climate activist and Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.

He said it acknowledges the need for public funds from developed countries but dodges the key question of how much finance is needed, shifting the burden onto developing countries to raise more domestic funds.

The veteran COP watcher also said the text fails to set clear financial targets for mitigation, adaptation, and losses and damages from climate impacts -- areas with growing needs and limited resources. "A real, just transition from fossil fuels requires strong public finance, not empty promises," Singh said.

Vaibhav Chaturvedi from Delhi-based think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water said it is great that the structure is streamlined, but there is no high-level number from the developed world.

David Waskow, the Director of WRI's International Climate Initiative, said the text leaves a lot of work to be done.

"Time is very tight, and to get to bridging texts, even bridging texts with options, is going to take quite a lot of work, and the presidency and the ministerial pair and parties above all, are going to need to really work hard over the next 48 to 72 hours to reach a conclusion," he said.

Developing countries' perspective in the text is that the new climate finance package should be in trillions and be given by developed countries every year from 2025.

Developed countries have two positions: One is that global climate finance could reach a trillion-dollar figure, still unspecified, per year by 2035, but the money would come from various sources, including domestic funds.

This option doesn't factor in Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, which mandates developed nations to provide financial support. This means asking wealthier, high-emitting developing nations to contribute to climate finance.

Their second view factors in Article 9 and calls for a goal that collectively mobilises an amount greater than USD 100 billion per annum by 2035 for developing countries from a wide range of sources and instruments, including public, private, and innovative sources, from bilateral and multilateral channels.

Rob Moore, associate director at international climate policy think tank E3G, said the absence of a clear proposal or numbers means negotiators have a lot of work ahead in the next day or two.

"The road to agreement will need to see rapid and candid engagement, with numbers on the table," he said.