Wealthy Nations Imperil Global Climate Goals with Grossly Insufficient COP29 Finance Agreement

BAKU, Azerbaijan (November 24, 2024)-The annual U.N. climate talks-also referred to as COP29-concluded today in Baku, Azerbaijan, after going deep into contentious overtime negotiations. The top priority at this "finance COP" was delivering an ambitious and much-needed climate finance commitment from richer nations for lower income countries. Coming into COP29, multiple scientific studies showed that funding on the order of $1 trillion per year in grants and low-interest loans would be needed to help low-income nations cut emissions, adapt to mounting climate impacts, and address loss and damage at home. The final deal falls well short, with just $300 billion annually from a variety of sources by 2035 and no firm commitment on a public finance core. The malign influence of fossil fuel interests was clear within the negotiations and in the COP29 hallways.

Below is a statement by Dr. Rachel Cleetus, the policy director and a lead economist for the Climate and Energy Program at UCS. She has been attending the U.N.'s international climate talks and has partnered with the international community on climate and energy policies for about 20 years. Dr. Cleetus attended COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"The Azerbaijani COP29 Presidency's ineptitude in brokering an agreement at this consequential climate finance COP will go down in ignominy. The last ditch, highly insufficient agreement barely came together deep into overtime and its low amount, quality, and unambitious timeline raises significant concerns that future financial flows will fail to measure up to what's needed.

"Rich nations, including the United States and E.U. countries, have exercised brute power here at COP29 to force a deeply unfair and inadequate climate finance outcome that imperils the science-based goals of the Paris climate agreement. Despite their starring role in causing the climate crisis, this wealthy coalition of the unwilling collectively offered a grossly insufficient $300 billion annually by 2035, with a weak provision to review in five years and numerous loopholes to evade responsibility for ensuring the majority is grant-based public finance. This is nowhere near what lower income nations need to quickly transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy and protect people from the ravages of the climate crisis they're already enduring. By reneging on their climate finance responsibility and continuing to boost fossil fuel interests, richer countries are stymying the world's ability to cut heat-trapping emissions quickly and unjustly foisting the costs of deadly climate extremes onto those who have contributed the least to the problem.

"In leading the push for lowballing climate finance, the Biden administration has ended its tenure at the U.N. climate talks on a sour note, showing a lack of respect and empathy for those on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The administration must show some responsibility by announcing the country's 2035 emission reduction commitment by the end of the year.

"The United States-the world's largest historical contributor of heat-trapping emissions-is going to see a monumental shift in its global diplomacy posture as the incoming anti-science Trump administration will likely exit the Paris Agreement and take a wrecking ball to domestic climate and clean energy policies. While some politically and economically popular clean energy policies may prove durable and action from forward-looking states and businesses will be significant, there's no doubt that a lack of robust federal leadership will leave U.S. climate action hobbled for a time. Other nations-including E.U. countries and China-will need to do what they can to fill the void. Between now and COP30 in Brazil next year, nations have a lot of ground to make up to have any hope of limiting runaway climate change."

Below is a statement by Kathy Mulvey, the accountability campaign director for the Climate and Energy Program at UCS. She has watchdogged industry presence at the U.N.'s international talks related to health and climate change for more than 20 years. Mulvey attended COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"Fossil fuel interests permeated COP29, and their push to maintain massive profits from oil and gas showed in the flawed final outcome. Saudi Arabia, for example, employed strongarm tactics to undermine last year's UAE consensus to transition away from fossil fuels and reportedly may have interfered with official negotiating text. Meanwhile, the United States and other countries whose wealth derives from a fossil fuel-based economy failed to come through with sufficient funding to support low-income nations in the transition to clean energy. In fact, the final COP29 finance text makes no explicit reference to the 'polluter pays principle,' phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, or cutting investment flows to fossil fuels.

"In addition to powerful nations representing their interests, nearly 1,800 lobbyists from the industry primarily responsible for driving destructive and deadly climate change were granted access to the COP29 venue, overwhelming the delegation of almost every country, especially those from the most climate-vulnerable nations. With their unfettered access to negotiators, oil and gas companies and their allies stymied efforts to secure an ambitious outcome so they could continue to rake in trillions in subsidies bankrolled by governments and grow their record-breaking profits.

"Fossil fuel corporations such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell, which have funded and carried out concerted climate science deception campaigns for decades, have disqualified themselves from having a seat at the negotiating table where climate policies are being made. It's time for the COP parties to grow a backbone and kick big polluters out once and for all."