COP29: Civil society protests climate finance proposal, calls for ‘no deal’ over ‘bad deal’

PTI, Nov 23, 2024, 8:50 AM IST

Baku (Azerbaijan): Civil society members staged a silent march at the UN climate summit, condemning the developed nations’ proposal to increase annual climate finance to a meagre USD 250 billion by 2035. They called on the developing world to reject what they described as an “insulting” and “unjust” dea

l. With their arms crossed in defiance, protesters walked silently through the summit venue, where chanting is prohibited. “We urge you to stand up for the people of the Global South, and we insist: no deal in Baku is better than a bad deal, and this is a very, very bad deal because of the intransigence of developed countries,” said Climate Action Network (CAN), a global coalition of more than 1,900 civil society organisations, in a letter to G77 and China, the largest bloc of developing nations.

The letter urged negotiators to abandon weak agreements, saying, “If nothing sufficiently strong is forthcoming at this COP, we urge you to walk away from the table to fight another day, and we will fight the same fight.”

Shailendra Yashwant, senior advisor at CAN South Asia, denounced the proposal, saying, “The NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance) number of USD 250 billion in the latest ministerial text is not a joke, it’s an insult to the people of the Global South salvaging their belongings and trying to rebuild their lives from floods, heatwaves, cyclones, landslides or forest fires and other climate change-induced disasters.”

Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, called the proposal “a disgrace”. He said, “Developed countries are fully aware of the cost of climate action, which is running into trillions of dollars annually. Yet they had the audacity to offer this paltry amount.”

Renowned activist Greta Thunberg also slammed the draft text on climate finance, calling it “a complete disaster” and a “death sentence” for millions already vulnerable to the climate crisis. At the UN climate conference in Baku, countries are required to reach an agreement on a new climate finance package to help developing countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the warming world.

The summit was scheduled to conclude on Friday but spilt into overtime as developed nations only presented a concrete climate finance figure in the closing hours. The USD 250 billion amount they have offered is a far cry from the trillions required to tackle the escalating climate emergency.

Developing nations have been demanding at least USD 1.3 trillion annually — 13 times the USD 100 billion pledged in 2009 — starting in 2025 to address their escalating climate challenges. They have said that a significant portion of this USD 1.3 trillion should come directly in public funding from developed countries.