A proposed deal on climate cash at UN summit highlights split between rich and poor nations
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A new draft of a deal on cash to curb and adapt to climate change released Friday at the United Nations climate summit pledged $250 billion annually by 2035 from wealthy countries to poorer ones. The amount pleases the countries who will be paying, but not those on the receiving end.
It’s more than double the previous goal of $100 billion a year set 15 years ago, but less than a quarter of the number requested by developing nations struck hardest by extreme weather. But rich nations say it’s realistic and about the limit of what they can do.
It struck a sour note for developing countries, which see conferences like this one as their biggest hope to pressure rich nations because they aren’t part of meetings of the world’s biggest economies.
<bsp-audio-player class=«HTML5AudioPlayerB» data-hours-abbreviation=«hr» data-minutes-abbreviation=«min»> </bsp-audio-player>AP AUDIO: A proposed deal on climate cash at UN summit highlights split between rich and poor nations
AP correspondent Melina Walling reports on discussions during United Nations climate talks.
“Our expectations were low, but this is a slap in the face,” said Mohamed Adow, from Power Shift Africa. “No developing country will fall for this. They have angered and offended the developing world.”
Nations are still far apart on reaching a deal
The proposal came from the top: the presidency of the climate talks — called COP29 — in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister, said the presidency hopes to push countries to go higher than $250 billion, saying “it doesn’t correspond to our fair and ambitious goal. But we will continue to engage with the parties.”
Brazil responded with a higher number taken