NEW DELHI: At a time when countries remain undecided over the quantum as well as contributors of new climate finance post-2025, chief of the UN climate change body Simon Stiell on Thursday appealed to all governments to arrive at a new goal for international climate finance at COP29 in Baku , Azerbaijan next month, but made it amply clear that renegotiation of the Paris Agreement will not be on the table during the talks.
“The vital business of who pays and how much can be agreed in Baku, but we are not going there to renegotiate the Paris Agreement,” said Stiell while addressing a virtual event, hosted by the Washington-based think tank Brookings Institution , ahead of the 29th session of the UN climate conference (COP29) which is being billed as a ‘finance COP'.
It means the rich nations’ ploy to bring emerging economies like India, China and other G20 countries on board as contributors to the international climate finance will not be negotiated when countries assemble in Baku for COP29 from Nov 11-22 as the Paris Agreement works on the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities' ( CBDR-RC ).
The principle puts the onus on historical polluters (rich nations) to contribute to climate finance, meant to help developing countries for their mitigation (emission cut) and adaptation measures, recognising that countries have different duties and liabilities to address the negative impacts of climate change.
As of now, the countries come out with different figures ranging from $1 trillion to $1.3 trillion annually in place of the existing $100 billion annual contribution for climate finance. A final decision to this effect is expected to be taken in Baku in the form of deciding the quantum of finance and its timeline as a 'new collective quantified goal' ( NCQG ).
"At COP29 in Baku, all governments must agree on a new goal for international climate finance that truly responds to the needs of developing countries. COP29 must be the stand-and-deliver COP, recognising that climate finance is core business to save the global economy and billions of lives and livelihoods from rampaging climate impacts," said Stiell, executive secretary of the UN climate change, building a momentum for the annual mega meet.
The latest report by the co-chairs of the ad hoc work programme on the NCQG under the UN climate change, released on Oct 15, emphasised that the quantum of the international climate finance must be set as a ‘floor of’ a financial amount, with participants (countries’ negotiators) proposing $1 trillion, $1.1 trillion or $1.3 trillion per year.
Recognizing the challenges of increasing the quantum of the goal from $100 billion to $1 trillion, participants suggested framing the NCQG in a manner that combines annual and cumulative targets. “In this context, some participants also discussed whether defining annual targets would allow for financial resources to be scaled up every year. Some participants also identified the need to clarify the starting year of the NCQG (i.e. 2025 or 2026),” said the latest report of the co-chairs on the status of the NCQG.
"COP29 faces an uphill battle, risking the breakdown of climate talks if wealthy nations continue to dodge their climate finance responsibilities. Despite three years of technical sessions and high-level meetings, key finance issues—such as scale, quality, sources, and fairness of contributions—remain unresolved,” said
Harjeet Singh, Climate Activist and Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
He said, “Climate science and history confirm that wealthy nations, having consumed the majority of fossil fuels since the industrial age, bear the primary responsibility for climate finance. Yet, these nations are now pushing for large developing countries to contribute as well, clearly aiming to dilute their own unmet obligations and shift burdens to those with less historical responsibility. Without genuine commitment from these countries, COP29 risks becoming a glaring failure to address the urgent demands of the escalating climate crisis.”
According to the report by the co-chairs, many countries’ representatives have, so far, expressed different views on the time frame, sources of finance, possible contributors and recipients, and burden-sharing arrangements pertaining to the NCQG, though some considered the latter three aspects to be outside the scope of deliberations on the NCQG.
On the quantum of the NCQG, some of the countries even suggested $2.4 trillion annually by 2030, as identified in the report by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance. They underlined that $ 1.4 trillion out of the total amount can be mobilised from domestic resources and $1 trillion from external finance (of which $150–200 billion from bilateral and innovative concessional finance, $500–600 billion from private sources and $250–300 billion from MDBs and other development finance institutions).
Stiell in his remarks at the Brookings Institution’s event noted that though it’s not his job to prejudge what the new goal will look like, it’s clear the “public finance must be at the core”.
“As much of this finance as possible needs to be grant or concessional, and must be made more accessible to those who need it most. And we must make climate cash count, wherever possible leveraging more private finance and sending signals to financial markets that green is where the gains are,” he said.
The UN climate change executive secretary also emphasised on the importance of putting in place mechanisms to track and ensure that promised funds are delivered.
“Progress on climate finance outside our negotiation process enables breakthroughs within it and vice- versa. If we fail at either, it could be a knock-out blow to crucial parts of the Paris Agreement,” said Stiell.
He also emphasised that more work has to be done to rapidly ramp up funding for adaptation and get international carbon markets working for everyone. “We must fund a new generation of national climate plans,” said Stiell.
“The vital business of who pays and how much can be agreed in Baku, but we are not going there to renegotiate the Paris Agreement,” said Stiell while addressing a virtual event, hosted by the Washington-based think tank Brookings Institution , ahead of the 29th session of the UN climate conference (COP29) which is being billed as a ‘finance COP'.
It means the rich nations’ ploy to bring emerging economies like India, China and other G20 countries on board as contributors to the international climate finance will not be negotiated when countries assemble in Baku for COP29 from Nov 11-22 as the Paris Agreement works on the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities' ( CBDR-RC ).
The principle puts the onus on historical polluters (rich nations) to contribute to climate finance, meant to help developing countries for their mitigation (emission cut) and adaptation measures, recognising that countries have different duties and liabilities to address the negative impacts of climate change.
As of now, the countries come out with different figures ranging from $1 trillion to $1.3 trillion annually in place of the existing $100 billion annual contribution for climate finance. A final decision to this effect is expected to be taken in Baku in the form of deciding the quantum of finance and its timeline as a 'new collective quantified goal' ( NCQG ).
"At COP29 in Baku, all governments must agree on a new goal for international climate finance that truly responds to the needs of developing countries. COP29 must be the stand-and-deliver COP, recognising that climate finance is core business to save the global economy and billions of lives and livelihoods from rampaging climate impacts," said Stiell, executive secretary of the UN climate change, building a momentum for the annual mega meet.
The latest report by the co-chairs of the ad hoc work programme on the NCQG under the UN climate change, released on Oct 15, emphasised that the quantum of the international climate finance must be set as a ‘floor of’ a financial amount, with participants (countries’ negotiators) proposing $1 trillion, $1.1 trillion or $1.3 trillion per year.
Recognizing the challenges of increasing the quantum of the goal from $100 billion to $1 trillion, participants suggested framing the NCQG in a manner that combines annual and cumulative targets. “In this context, some participants also discussed whether defining annual targets would allow for financial resources to be scaled up every year. Some participants also identified the need to clarify the starting year of the NCQG (i.e. 2025 or 2026),” said the latest report of the co-chairs on the status of the NCQG.
"COP29 faces an uphill battle, risking the breakdown of climate talks if wealthy nations continue to dodge their climate finance responsibilities. Despite three years of technical sessions and high-level meetings, key finance issues—such as scale, quality, sources, and fairness of contributions—remain unresolved,” said
Harjeet Singh, Climate Activist and Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
He said, “Climate science and history confirm that wealthy nations, having consumed the majority of fossil fuels since the industrial age, bear the primary responsibility for climate finance. Yet, these nations are now pushing for large developing countries to contribute as well, clearly aiming to dilute their own unmet obligations and shift burdens to those with less historical responsibility. Without genuine commitment from these countries, COP29 risks becoming a glaring failure to address the urgent demands of the escalating climate crisis.”
According to the report by the co-chairs, many countries’ representatives have, so far, expressed different views on the time frame, sources of finance, possible contributors and recipients, and burden-sharing arrangements pertaining to the NCQG, though some considered the latter three aspects to be outside the scope of deliberations on the NCQG.
On the quantum of the NCQG, some of the countries even suggested $2.4 trillion annually by 2030, as identified in the report by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance. They underlined that $ 1.4 trillion out of the total amount can be mobilised from domestic resources and $1 trillion from external finance (of which $150–200 billion from bilateral and innovative concessional finance, $500–600 billion from private sources and $250–300 billion from MDBs and other development finance institutions).
Stiell in his remarks at the Brookings Institution’s event noted that though it’s not his job to prejudge what the new goal will look like, it’s clear the “public finance must be at the core”.
“As much of this finance as possible needs to be grant or concessional, and must be made more accessible to those who need it most. And we must make climate cash count, wherever possible leveraging more private finance and sending signals to financial markets that green is where the gains are,” he said.
The UN climate change executive secretary also emphasised on the importance of putting in place mechanisms to track and ensure that promised funds are delivered.
“Progress on climate finance outside our negotiation process enables breakthroughs within it and vice- versa. If we fail at either, it could be a knock-out blow to crucial parts of the Paris Agreement,” said Stiell.
He also emphasised that more work has to be done to rapidly ramp up funding for adaptation and get international carbon markets working for everyone. “We must fund a new generation of national climate plans,” said Stiell.
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