Hundreds Of Climate Activists Take Over COP29 To Demand Trillions In Climate Finance And A Fossil Fuel Phaseout

Baku, Azerbaijan Today, hundreds of climate activists took over COP29’s hallways to urge world leaders to deliver trillions of climate finance to the Global South, phase out fossil fuels, and ensure a just transition to 100% renewable energy. This action is one of more than a hundred being held in 26 countries around the world in Asia, Africa, and Europe as part of a global day of action involving rallies and marches calling for trillions of climate finance and the phase-out of oil, coal, and gas. Due to tight restrictions inside the venue, activists were banned from chanting and the protest was reduced to humming and snapping fingers. These restrictions come in the wake of a report released on the first day of COP29, revealing how climate activists are facing unprecedented repression around the world.

“At COP29, our message is clear: climate finance isn’t just a negotiation issue - it is a moral responsibility,” said Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International. “Wealthy nations must commit to the US$5 trillion needed each year to address their historic climate debt owed to the Global South.”

COP29 is known as a “finance COP,” as governments are expected to reach an agreement on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), the quantity of climate finance that Global North governments must deliver to the Global South as reparations for the North’s historical and continuing greenhouse gas emissions. The $5 trillion a year that the Global South is owed will pay for the costs of phasing out fossil fuels, transitioning to renewable energy, building resilience, and addressing economic loss and damage. Loss and damage alone is estimated to cost $447 to $894 billion a year by 2030 for developing countries, who face the harshest impacts of the climate crisis.

Essop added: “Communities on the frontline of climate disaster are paying the price for a crisis they did not create, with devastating losses to lives and livelihoods. This is no time for half-measures or empty promises - what’s needed now is bold action and public funding. The resources are there; what’s missing is the political will. Let’s make this COP the moment we turn commitment into real change for a just and equitable future."

This action comes at the midpoint of COP29, where the stakes are high for securing financial commitments to support the global transition away from fossil fuels and protect countries from worsening climate impacts. So far progress on climate finance reform has been slow and fossil fuel phase out pledges have yet to be made, with New Global Carbon Project data indicating that emissions from coal, oil and gas will hit a record high 2024.

“The fast and fair phase out of fossil fuels can only happen if it's funded,” said Alex Rafalowicz, director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. “This COP must send a signal that polluters will pay and that those who are committed to phasing out fossil fuels are rewarded.”

Earlier this year, U.S. treasury secretary Janet Yellen said that “no less than $3 trillion annually” would be needed to fight climate change, but implied that this amount would be heavily channeled through multilateral development banks. Recently, the Asian Development Bank announced that 50% of its annual lending would be devoted to climate finance by 2030. Campaigners emphasized that climate finance should be paid through grants, and not loans as that will only increase the debt burdens of already poor countries, and delivered free of conditionalities.

Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, said: “To deliver climate finance through loans not only contradicts the principle of acknowledging historical responsibility, it is deeply unjust to force impoverished countries to go deeper in debt to address the climate emergency. It is not enough that the amount of climate finance is adequate. The $5 trillion a year that the Global South is owed should be public, non-debt-creating, new and additional, and delivered without conditionalities.”

While rich countries claim that they lack public funds to mobilize an adequate amount of climate finance, the G7 nations’ military spending reached $1.2 trillion for 2023 alone. Campaigners condemned rich countries prioritizing the funding of war and genocide over the funding of climate action.

Asad Rehman, executive director of War on Want, said: "We stand at a crossroads. Killer floods, droughts, and famines are devastating lives and livelihoods across the Global South, mirroring the bombs killing thousands of Palestinian people and turning Gaza into hell on earth. The ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the escalating climate crisis share a root cause: the failure of rich, developed countries to act. These nations continue to treat lives as expendable, prioritising the profits of fossil fuel and arms companies over people and the planet. The call is clear—stop funding genocide and start funding real climate action."

© Scoop Media