The world is divided over how to split the bill for climate change
Image: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty
COP29, the UN’s 29th annual summit on climate change, is scheduled to wrap up later today – but the main question officials hoped to address at the summit still remains unanswered.
Background: Heading into COP29, the key goal was to reach an agreement on how much money richer, developed countries should provide poorer, developing ones to help them fight climate change, with developing nations pushing for a significant increase to the current $100 billion/year commitment (through 2025).
But after nearly two weeks of discussion, many countries at COP29 still disagree over how much should be committed, who should be paying, and how the money should be used.
- UN officials estimate several trillion dollars in contributions are needed by 2030 to fully address climate risks to developing countries, with a recent study placing the minimum figure at $1+ trillion/year.
- However, richer nations have reportedly balked at that price tag, and are negotiating for a smaller sum in the range of a few hundred billion dollars annually.
- Many developed countries have questioned their level of responsibility for climate change, as well as the classification of China as a “developing” nation.
On Thursday, the UN published a draft document containing an “X” in place of a dollar amount for how much wealthy nations will pay poor countries, in a sign that negotiations have currently stalled.
Zoom out: This year, global average surface temperatures are “virtually certain” to exceed 1.5° C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels – the threshold at which countries agreed to try to limit warming as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement – for the first time in modern history, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Looking ahead… While COP29 is scheduled to wrap up later today, the summit is widely expected to overrun into the weekend as negotiations over financing continue to play out.
đź“Š Flash poll: In general, do you think developed nations should pay more or less money to developing countries to help them fight climate change?
See a 360° view of what pundits are saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some analysts argue that the current climate finance system forces developing nations to carry the biggest burden by allowing financial institutions to control the flow of money, which must be changed after COP29.
- Others contend that we should not place hope in capitalist nations at COP29 or other conventions, since they have no interest in combating real climate issues, and the burden must instead be placed on working people to implement system change across society.
- “COP 29: Developed economies must learn to prioritise lives over profits.” –Mariana Paoli, Al Jareeza
- “COPout: capitalism is unwilling and unable to save the planet.” –Morning Star Editorial
- “Climate Change Is Losing Its Grip on Our Politics.” –David Wallace-Wells, New York Times
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the issue with climate organizations and gatherings like COP comes down to understanding the problem but coming up with the wrong solutions to solve them, which is why no one takes them seriously.
- Others contend that the lack of attendance of some of the world’s leading carbon-emitting countries is a sign that conferences like COP29 are becoming more and more irrelevant to conversations supporting real climate progress.
- “Questioning articles of climate faith.” –Waterbury Republican American Editorial Board
- “Baranyai: COP29 summit adds to collective despair.” –Robin Baranyai, London Free Press
- “COP29 is exposing Ilham Aliyev’s Azerbaijan as the warmongering autocratic petrostate that it is.” –Neil Hauer, The Globe & Mail
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