Baku (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The EU proposed $300 billion annually for climate aid to developing countries, but discussions remain tense.
The European Union presented an offer by rich nations to assist poor countries worst struck by climate change to US$300 billion a year in a bid to salvage discussions that the developing world cautioned were on the brink of collapse.
As reported by Channel News Asia, two negotiators expressed the EU was insisting that wealthy countries—whose ranks also include the United States, Britain, and Japan—boost the sum to US$300 billion. However, this came with prerequisites in other parts of the broader climate deal under discussion at the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan, the negotiators added.Â
Will EU demands for annual reviews derail the deal?
The Europeans in separate want an annual review of global measures to phase out fossil fuels, which are the primary drivers of global warming. This has run into opposition from Saudi Arabia, which has aimed to water down a landmark commitment to transition away from oil, gas and coal made at COP28 last year.
Irish climate minister Eamon Ryan expressed he was “hopeful” for a deal but that a more precise picture would emerge later in the day when a new text is expected.
“We need to get an agreement. This is important that we give hope to the world, that multilateralism can work, that we are responding to the climate crisis,”
Ryan said. He stated there was a recognition of the need for more money for the developing world,
“but also we have to put a halt to the advance of fossil fuels”.
Moreover, Ali Mohamed, chair of the African Group of Negotiators said that there had been “good discussions” on finance after the initial US$250 billion offer which he called “a big mockery”. He stated that developing nations had made it obvious that a lack of movement would
“lead to a failure of COP”.
“No deal is better than a bad deal,”
he expressed.
