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Parleys behind closed doors, China signals key shift on climate finance
Against this backdrop of complex negotiations, China has indicated a potentially more flexible stance on climate finance
New Delhi: Nations at COP29 have moved into closed-door negotiations after co-chairs presented an unwieldy 34-page draft on the new collective quantified goal (NCQG), with developing countries pushing for streamlined discussions.
The G77 and China group, representing 134 developing nations, requested informal meetings to pare down the extensive document. These “inf-inf” (informal-informal) sessions, closed to observers, aim to find common ground on crucial climate finance issues.
Against this backdrop of complex negotiations, China has indicated a potentially more flexible stance on climate finance. During the high-level ministerial dialogue, Beijing emphasised the complementarity between developed countries’ financial obligations and voluntary support through South-South cooperation.
The G77 is the largest coalition of developing countries within the UN system, representing nations from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and serves as a unified voice for the Global South on economic and development issues.
Xuexiang Ding, President Xi Jinping’s special representative and first vice premier, pointed to China’s growing role: “Since 2016, China has provided and mobilised more than 177 billion yuan of project funds supporting other developing countries’ climate response.” He called for “more ambitious funding targets” at COP29, emphasising the need for developed nations to increase financial support and technology transfer.
The European Union has also shown signs of movement in its position. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen joined the High Ambition Coalition’s COP29 Leaders’ press statement, acknowledging that “trillions of dollars are required” for climate action. The statement emphasised the importance of grant-based and concessional finance, particularly for adaptation and loss and damage response.
However, the United States introduced new complexity by suggesting that the new goal should draw from a broader pool of contributors than the previous $100 billion target, proposing what it calls a “pragmatic approach.”
Even basic issues remain contentious. Debates continue over how to reference 2024 as the warmest year on record, with developing countries insisting this be contextualised within historical emissions patterns. Gender-related text also remains disputed, particularly regarding references to indigenous peoples and representation of women from developing countries.
Sehr Raheja, programme officer for climate change at the Centre for Science and Environment, outlined how the day unfolded: “The NCQG negotiations started with a show of unity from the G-77 and China group. They rejected the first draft following which a newer text, reflecting more of the developing country options for various elements of the goal was brought to the floor for discussion.”
However, Raheja expressed concern about the negotiation strategy: “As of this afternoon, the discussions on NCQG have moved to ‘informal informals’... This is likely to leave the tough - and critical - questions of quantum and contributor base to the second week, with a lot more pressure and much less time.”
The shift to informal negotiations highlights both the urgency to streamline the bloated draft and the complex dynamics between developed and developing nations as they work to establish new climate finance goals.
