The European Union on Saturday raised an offer by rich nations to help poor countries worst hit by climate change to $300 billion a year in a bid to salvage talks that the developing world warned were on the brink of collapse.
Two negotiators said the EU was urging that wealthy countries — whose ranks also include the United States, Britain and Japan — raise the sum to $300 billion.
But this came with conditions in other parts of the broader climate deal under discussion at the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan, the negotiators added.
The Europeans in particular want an annual review of global efforts to phase out fossil fuels, which are the main drivers of global warming.
This has run into opposition from Saudi Arabia, which has sought to water down a landmark pledge to transition away from oil, gas and coal made at COP28 last year.
Irish climate minister Eamon Ryan said he was “hopeful” for a deal but that a clearer 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 told AFP.
He said 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.”
Ali Mohamed, chair of the African Group of Negotiators, told AFP that there had been “good discussions” on finance after the initial $250 billion offer which he called “a big mockery”.
He said that developing nations had made clear that a lack of movement would “lead to a failure of COP”.
“No deal is better than a bad deal,” he said.
– ‘Billions of people’ at risk –
The stance of Mohamed, who is also Kenya’s climate change envoy, was backed by a coalition of more than 300 activist groups that urged developing nations to stand firm.
In a letter, the non-governmental organisations accused developed nations of seeking to avoid legal obligations for climate finance.
“You claim to champion a rules-based system, yet flout the rules when they don’t suit your interests, putting at risk billions of people and life on Earth,” they wrote.
Wealthy nations counter that it is politically unrealistic to expect more in direct government funding.
The US earlier this month elected President-elect Donald Trump, a sceptic of both climate change and foreign assistance and several other Western countries have seen right-wing backlashes against the green agenda.
The draft deal posits a larger overall target of $1.3 trillion per year to cope with rising temperatures and disasters, but most would come from private sources.
Even $250 billion would be a step up from the $100 billion now provided by wealthy nations under a commitment set to expire.
A group of developing countries had demanded at least $500 billion, with some saying that increases were less than met the eye due to inflation.
– Saudis fighting for fossil fuels –
Experts commissioned by the United Nations to assess the needs of developing countries said $250 billion was “too low” and by 2035 rich nations should be providing at least $390 billion.
This figure was taken up by Brazil, the host of next year’s COP30, which says $390 billion should be the sole responsibility of wealthier countries.
The US and EU have wanted newly wealthy emerging economies like China — the world’s largest emitter — to chip in.
China, which remains classified as a developing nation under the UN framework, provides climate assistance but wants to keep doing so on its voluntary terms.
While China has generally taken a low-key and cooperative stance in Baku, oil-rich Saudi Arabia has pushed hard for weaker language on fossil fuels and, like China, has fought against being obliged to provide aid, one veteran activist from a developing country said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Friday that the Saudi goal was “turning back the clock”.
Azerbaijan, an authoritarian state that relies on oil and gas exports, has been accused of lacking the experience and bandwidth to steer such complex negotiations.
Its leader Ilham Aliyev opened the conference by railing against Western nations and hailing fossil fuels as a “gift of God”.
(AFP. Photo by Laurent THOMET / AFP)