Cop29 draft deal proposes rich nations give US$250 billion in climate finance

The UN Climate Change Conference went into overtime on Friday evening as the summit’s presidency put forward a new draft text calling on industrialised countries to increase the amount of aid to poorer countries to US$250 billion annually by 2035.

The draft deal proposes rich nations commit the amount to help poorer nations combat global warming in a bid to break deadlocked negotiations.

Delegates from nearly 200 nations had eagerly awaited Cop29 hosts Azerbaijan’s new proposal after two weeks of fraught bargaining.

The conference was scheduled to end to end at 6pm (1400 GMT) on Friday. It could stretch into the weekend.

The new draft text sets an ambitious overall target to raise a total of US$1.3 trillion per year by 2035, with the money from rich governments at the core of funding that would be coupled with private-sector investments.

It is the first time concrete numbers were formally proposed at talks dominated by divisions over how to boost help for developing nations to cut emissions and adapt to climate change.