COP29 reaches agreement with bitter taste for countries of the South

Turbulence right up to the end of the debates, a tense atmosphere and blind flying on the part of the Azerbaijani presidency: After two weeks of a slow descent toward an indeterminate landing strip, the 29^th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, came to a divided end on Sunday, November 24.

At the end of the night, a hard-fought agreement on climate finance was reached. But it was immediately contested loudly by a number of developing countries, in a heated atmosphere unprecedented in this UN body governed by consensus. It was the culmination of two weeks during which the COP’s multilateralism, hitherto relatively untouched by geopolitical crises and ongoing wars, came up against a wall between Global North and South.

At around 11 pm on the night of November 23, after the arrival of a final text and several moments of hesitation, COP President Mukhtar Babayev used the same technique as some of his predecessors, such as Laurent Fabius at COP21 in Paris, or Sultan al-Jaber at COP21 in Dubai last year. A quick glance around the room and his gavel dropped, sealing the adoption of the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). The crucial outcome of this conference, the agreement calls for developed countries to provide $300 billion (€287 billion) in financial aid to developing countries to finance their climate transition by 2035.

Far from expectations

After a round of applause and a standing ovation from part of the room, the Indian representative took the floor. “We are extremely hurt by this action by the president and the secretariat,” said Indian delegate Chandni Raina, who had indicated that she wished to speak before the gavel was struck. “India does not accept the goal proposal in its present form. I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion.”

She was applauded, as were the representatives of Cuba, Bolivia and Nigeria, who accused the rich countries of not shouldering the cost of their historic greenhouse gas emissions. “Developed countries put front and center as non-negotiable target the + 1.5°C target, but at the same time they undermine the only possible steps that are required to attain it,” said Diego Pacheco, head of the Bolivian delegation. This led to another standing ovation in the COP plenary session, which had never seen such a challenge. A slap in the face to Azerbaijan and a deep cut in climate diplomacy.

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