COP29 expected to conclude with $250b annual climate finance pledge
However, this pledge comes amid demands from developing countries for over $1.3 trillion annually
The much-hyped UN Climate Summit, often referred to as "Finance COP," is expected to conclude on Friday (22 November) with a pledge from the United States, the European Union, and other wealthy countries to provide $250 billion per year by 2035 as climate finance to developing nations.
The COP29 climate summit presidency has released a draft finance deal that would have developed nations take the lead in providing $250 billion per year to help poorer nations. The proposal drew criticism from all sides.
However, the proposal comes amid demands from developing countries for over $1.3 trillion annually.
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The sources of the funding remain uncertain, with unclear details about which countries will contribute and how much they will provide for climate finance. Though, the new pledged amount is more than double the amount promised in 2009.
In 2009, developed countries pledged to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance. However, they insisted that the $100 billion target be met after 2020, a position that was not agreed upon by developing nations.
The draft text of the "New Collective Quantified Goal" (NCQG), released on Friday, mentions that "developed country Parties will take the lead, aiming for $250 billion per year by 2035 for developing country Parties to support climate action. This will come from a wide variety of sources, both public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources."
The fund is intended to address the evolving needs of developing countries through grants or grant-equivalent terms. The finance will be new, additional, affordable, predictable, and non-debt-inducing, supporting adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage.
It will assist developing countries in implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions, Long-term Strategies, National Adaptation Plans, Climate Finance Strategies, and Technology Action Plans from 2025 to 2035.
However, the draft text does not specify how much of the pledged $250 billion will be provided as grants and how much will be in the form of loans.
Moreover, according to experts and activists, the text leaves the door wide open to loans private sector finance, which risk locking developing nations into further cycles of debt, poverty and disease. They also called it "a mockery".
