UN climate funding draft narrows options, but obstacles remain

Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin gives a speech during the COP29 in Baku on November 13, 2024. [Alexander NEMENOV / AFP]

A fresh draft of a UN climate deal released Wednesday proposes concrete options to raise funding for poorer countries, but leaves unresolved sticking points that have long delayed an agreement.

Landing a new accord to boost money for climate action in developing countries is the top priority of negotiators at the UN COP29 summit in Azerbaijan.

But it is deeply contentious, and consensus has eluded negotiators from nearly 200 nations for the better part of a year.

Most developing countries favour an annual commitment from wealthy countries of at least $1.3 trillion, according to the latest draft of the long-sought climate finance pact.

This figure is more than 10 times the $100 billion annually that a small pool of developed countries -- among them the United States, the European Union and Japan -- currently pay.

Some donors are reluctant to promise large new amounts of public money from their budgets at a time when they face economic and political pressure at home.

An earlier version of the draft was rejected outright by developing countries, which considered the proposed terms weighted too heavily toward wealthy nations.

Three options 

Fresh submissions were called, and the new document summarises three broad positions.

The first argues that rich, industrialised nations most responsible for climate change to date pay from their budgets.

The second option calls for other countries to share the burden, a key demand of developed countries, while the third puts forward a mix of the two.

A bloc of least-developed nations, mostly from Africa, are asking for $220 billion while small-island states at threat from rising seas want $39 billion.

"The new text proposes more concrete options for reaching an agreement on the total amount, as well as specific objectives for the least developed or most vulnerable countries," said Friederike Roder from Global Citizen, a non-government organisation.

"Unfortunately, this search for precision stops there. The proposals aimed at clearly defining what constitutes climate finance, and ensuring close and transparent monitoring, remain insufficient," she told AFP.

The latest 34-page draft reflects all the options on the table, said David Waskow, director at the World Resources Institute, a think tank.

"Negotiators now need to work to boil it down to some key decisions for the ministers to wrestle with next week," he said.