Sunday 24 November 2024
Islamabad (News International / Pakistan New - DW News - 24th November 2024) After two weeks of intense negotiations, delegates to the United Nations Climate Summit or COP29 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, agreed to provide funds to developing countries to deal with the effects of climate change. The consensus emerged at the end of the conference on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
In this regard, wealthy countries that emit the most harmful substances and gases to the natural environment offered $ 300 billion in climate financing annually by 2035, which is far less than the hope of developing countries. The agreement also includes a broader goal of mobilizing $ 1.3 trillion annually by 2035 for climate financing.
This will include funding from both public and private sources, which economists say matches the amount needed each year to combat global warming.
The climate conference was due to end on Friday but was extended as nearly 200 countries struggled to agree on a climate funding plan for the next decade.
Delegates from developing and small island states, frustrated by the lack of their nations’ commitment to the deal, walked out, citing concerns that fossil fuel producers were trying to undermine the agreement.
‘Difficult journey’ to reach agreement
The previous pledge to provide $100 billion in climate financing for poor countries by 2020 was delayed by two years to 2022 and was due to expire in 2025. Although the amount agreed in the previous agreement has been increased, developing countries have criticized it as insufficient.
However, the head of the UN Environment Agency, Simon Steele, said the deal could be seen as an insurance policy for humanity. “It has been a difficult journey, but we have reached an agreement,” Steele said after the agreement was reached. “This deal will sustain the clean energy boom and protect billions of lives.”
“This agreement will help all countries share in the huge benefits of our bold efforts to protect the environment, including more jobs, stronger growth, affordable and clean energy for all,” he added.
It is like any insurance policy and only works if premiums are paid in full and on time.”
Efforts to limit progress
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock issued a lengthy statement on the social media platform X following the agreement, acknowledging that COP29 had met with resistance to tackling climate change.
“Yes, our agreement here tonight is not enough, because of the resistance of a few who came here to block development and environmental justice and completely undermine our UN multilateral system, it has failed miserably,” he wrote.
Bearbock also said that the most vulnerable countries are not being ignored and that the $300 billion a year agreement is just a starting point.
He added that no one has forgotten the historical responsibility. “As a member of the younger generation, it is also clear to me that we cannot meet the challenges of the future with the solutions of the past. We know that our decisions today alone will not be enough to meet all needs.”
Developing nations express disappointment
Despite the applause from those in the hall in Baku, there was also disappointment at the final consensus figure on the agreement.
India’s representative Chandni Raina said that the Asian country rejected the document. “We are disappointed by this outcome, which clearly shows the lack of interest of the developed country parties in fulfilling their responsibilities,” he said.
“I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion,” he added.
It will not, in our opinion, address the magnitude of the challenge facing us all. That is why we oppose the adoption of this document.” Meanwhile, Malawian diplomat and head of the Least Developed Countries bloc, Evans Njuwa, said, “This is not the target we had hoped for.”
Providing a foundation
Contrary to this pessimism, EU Environment Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said that while the funds were not in the trillions, they were a big responsibility and a first step towards meeting a need.
“With these funds and this structure, we are confident that we will reach the $1.3 trillion target,” he said. Asked whether enough progress was being made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Hoekstra said that was not the aim of COP29 but that the EU had ensured that the agreement to cut emissions by 43% by 2030 was safeguarded at COP29.
“This (reducing emissions) was not the aim of this COP but we wanted to talk about it because the world needs it more. It is less than we wanted but it is better than we feared. So we are unhappy that a year has been lost, but we are happy that we have not lost this fight.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the agreement must be translated into reality immediately.
“I had hoped for a better outcome, but this agreement provides a foundation on which to build. It must be fully respected. The financial commitments must be translated into cash immediately,” he said.
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