Although the final result generates dissatisfaction among some of the delegates and environmentalists, the definition of the new global goal prevented the meeting from failing
GIULIANA MIRANDA
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (FOLHAPRESS) – With more than 30 hours of delay and moments in which negotiations were hanging by a thread, the almost 200 member countries of the UN (United Nations) climate convention reached an agreement to establish a new global climate financing target at COP29, a summit taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Although the final result generates dissatisfaction among some of the delegates and environmentalists, the definition of the new global target, better known by the acronym in English NCQG (new quantified collective objective), prevented the failure of COP29, which had the flow of resources as the main point of the agenda.
The decision was sealed in a plenary session in the early hours of this Sunday (24) in Baku, this Saturday night (23) in Brazil.
The approved amount of US$300 billion annually for climate financing was well below the US$1.3 trillion requested by developing countries. Dissatisfaction was symbolized in harsh speeches from nations such as Bolivia, Cuba and India after approval.
The value was considered incompatible with maintaining the Paris Agreement objectives of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Without adequate financing, the necessary carbon emissions cuts will not be possible, the countries highlighted, expressing disappointment and anger with rich countries.
The final text establishes that rich countries need to finance US$300 billion annually until 2035, “from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources”.
Not restricting resources to public sources is one of the points criticized by environmentalists and poorer countries, who understand that the bill will not be paid fairly and properly if delegated to other entities.
It was also agreed to launch a Baku-Belém work program, which aims to finally reach the US$ 1.3 trillion mark, still considered a floor for island countries and less developed nations.
Thus, it falls to Brazil, which will host COP30, in the capital of Pará, in 2025, to articulate ways to increase resources to the level of US$ 1.3 trillion. Despite this mission, the homework for Brazilian diplomacy is less than if there had been no agreement at COP29. In case of failure in Baku, the agenda would be inherited to Belém.
The negotiation process that led to the approval of the document was tense, and throughout the day, observers and diplomats doubted whether there would be consensus. The final plenary, which lasted through the early hours of Sunday in Baku, only started on Saturday night — more than 24 hours after the initial forecast — and was paused twice for discussions.
The text taken to the plenary was only presented around 6pm on Saturday Brazilian time, when it was already 1am on Sunday in Azerbaijan.
From US$ 250 to US$ 300 bi
The initial proposal from the COP29 presidency, revealed only on Friday (22), the day the conference should have ended, provided for US$ 250 billion annually until 2035. The text was classified as unacceptable by developing countries, as well as several observers and environmental organizations.
On Saturday afternoon, in one of the most tense moments of the summit, as a form of protest, delegations from small island states and less developed countries – better known, respectively, by the acronyms in English Aosis and LDCs – temporarily abandoned the meeting with the presidency of COP29.
“Small island developing states and least developed countries are among those most affected by this climate crisis that we did not cause. Yet, we have been continually disrespected for lack of inclusion. Our pleas are being ignored,” said Cedric Schuster, Samoa’s envoy on behalf of the Aosis alliance.
The final plenary of COP29, which began shortly after 8pm on Saturday in Baku (1pm in Brasília), opened with the approval of more bureaucratic points on the agenda, in a clear sign that there was still no agreement on financing, the main item on the agenda. The first point was the official passing of the baton to Brazil as the host of COP30, sealed with a speech by the Minister of the Environment (Marina Silva).
Many of the difficulties in the negotiation process were attributed to the presidency of COP29, in charge of Azerbaijani diplomacy, which has little experience in the area.
Even so, the biggest obstacle to progress in negotiations was attributed to the resistance of rich countries to increasing the ambition of global climate financing in poorer countries, an issue that, in times of the rise of the ultra-right, does not usually have much appeal with the domestic audience.
The European Union delegation was considered one of the main responsible for blocking the increase in ambitions. The stance of other rich countries, notably the United States and Canada, was also widely criticized by observers.
The proposal of US$300 billion per year was supported by Brazil as of Friday night, after the text offering US$250 billion was widely rejected. The US$300 billion was, from then on, the figure put on the table by the European Union, with endorsement from other developed countries.
Accounts in divergence
The NCQG arrives to replace the US$100 billion annual financing commitment, valid between 2020 and 2025, and whose effective implementation is questioned by observers and several countries, including Brazil.
Although a survey by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) indicates that this figure was reached in the last two years, other reports state that this did not happen.
Of what was actually disbursed, a large part occurred in the form of loans, often with market interest, which contributes to increasing the debt of developing countries.
According to the UN climate convention and the Paris Agreement, climate financing is paid only by developed countries, historically the biggest responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, which have largely achieved the growth of their economies in the last two years. centuries.
More recently, however, rich nations have been investing against this point, trying to include emerging economies with more developed economies in the donor base. The main target is China, the current leader in emissions, but it also includes the Gulf petrostates, South Korea and even Brazil.
Developing countries reject this idea, but have signaled openness to voluntary contributions, something that is already provided for in the Paris Agreement. China, for example, says it has donated more than $24 billion in climate finance since 2016.
Carbon market
Another highlight of the summit was the approval of the general carbon market rules, provided for in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which had been dragging on for more than eight years.
The objective is to enable a voluntary market governed by the UN, through which carbon credits can be traded.
This point was highlighted as a priority by the Azerbaijani presidency of the conference, which approved the topic in the first plenary session at the conference, taking some delegations by surprise.
Although it has the potential to unlock the carbon market, the proposal did not follow the usual procedure of widely listening to countries, which was criticized by several parties.
“It was a hand goal that was validated”, compared Alexandre Prado, climate change leader at WWF-Brazil, who followed the negotiations in Baku.
Although he considers that criticism of the carbon market is valid, as in recent years there has been a succession of scandals related to projects in the area, the expert says that, in general, the approval tends to be positive.
For Prado, the resolution is a good sign for Brazil, “which can consider this mechanism to increase the scale of forest restoration”.
