E-Paper
COP29: New draft shorter but rifts still wide on climate finance
The draft’s treatment of timing also varies significantly, with proposals ranging from 2025-2029 to 2026-2035 for the implementation period.
The latest draft text on climate finance released on Friday evening at COP29 has streamlined earlier proposals but reveals persistent divisions between developed and developing nations over funding amounts and responsibilities.
The new 25-page document, trimmed from an earlier 34-page version, clearly states that the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) is “exclusively for all developing countries” but presents widely varying options for the scale of funding.
The proposed annual funding amounts range from a floor of $100 billion to as much as $2 trillion, reflecting the stark differences between wealthy and developing nations. One sub-option suggests “at least USD 1.3 trillion per year,” while others propose $1.1 trillion or $2 trillion, to be provided between 2025 and 2035.
The draft presents multiple approaches to how this money should be raised and distributed. A key proposal on burden-sharing suggests developed countries should contribute based on their historical carbon dioxide emissions, including land use changes, marking a direct link between past pollution and current financial responsibility.
However, developed countries are pushing for a different framework. Under their preferred “multilayered approach,” the text proposes “investing USD {X} trillion globally in climate action by 2035 from all sources, public and private, domestic and international.”
Developing countries have strongly opposed this investment-focused approach. Despite their objections, the draft includes references to investment needs, noting that “about USD 4 trillion per year needs to be invested in renewable energy up until 2030 to be able to reach net zero emissions by 2050.”
A crucial point of contention remains the issue of historical responsibility for emissions, with text about burden-sharing arrangements “based on historical emissions” still appearing in brackets, indicating lack of agreement.
The draft’s treatment of timing also varies significantly, with proposals ranging from 2025-2029 to 2026-2035 for the implementation period.
This latest version follows developing countries’ rejection of the first draft on Tuesday.
