Rich Countries Withhold Overdue Debt In COP29’s Second Draft Finance Text

November 22, Baku, Azerbaijan - A new streamlined draft text was published at COP29 for the new climate finance goal. For the first time, this text includes a proposal for a provision of climate finance: $250bn per year in climate finance by 2035. Assessed against climate finance needs and demands from civil society and countries of the Global South, the number provided falls significantly short. Furthermore, provision in grant-equivalent was dropped. The decisions made now will determine whether the Global South will have the resources to adapt, recover, and transition to a sustainable future—or will be left behind. Today's text is not expected to be the final text, so it is now up to wealthy countries' governments to put their money on the table and provide a higher support quantum.

Namrata Chowdhary, Chief of Public Engagement at 350.org said:

“The Global North must stop playing poker with people’s lives and pay their overdue debt. We need real leadership—from wealthy nations and the Presidency—to land this deal. If they can’t deliver, they must step aside, because we will not accept a bad deal that fails to meet the moment.

As the world watches what should be the final day of this year's climate talks, the agreement we came here for remains elusive. This new climate finance goal is three years in the making, and the global majority remains leaps and bounds ahead of the governments who are continuing to stall and let progress slip away in the name of profits. But we will not be silenced. At COP29, we hold the line in our demand for more climate finance, not this bare minimum offer.”

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