While developed countries, including France, committed this Sunday as part of COP29 to financing poor countries threatened by climate change to the tune of $300 billion per year, this measure was deemed “too late” by certain representatives of the African group.
Three hundred billion dollars per year, in ten years: developed countries pledged this Sunday in Baku (Azerbaijan) to finance more poor countries threatened by climate change, at the end of a chaotic UN conference in Azerbaijan , from which the developing world leaves disappointed.
The funding promised for 2035 “is too weak, too late and too ambiguous,” lamented Kenyan Ali Mohamed, speaking on behalf of the African group. His counterpart from Malawi, representing the 45 poorest countries on the planet, Evans Njewa, denounced an “unambitious” agreement.
“The amount proposed is pitifully low. It’s ridiculous,” denounced Indian delegate Chandni Raina, criticizing the Azerbaijani presidency of COP29. This financial commitment from European countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, under the aegis of the UN, is to increase from 100 billion today to “ at least 300 billion dollars” annually by 2035 their loans and donations to developing countries.
Money to adapt to floods, heatwaves and droughts. But also to invest in low-carbon energies instead of developing their economies by burning coal and oil, as Western countries have done for more than a century.
“an absence of leadership from Azerbaijan”
The small island states deplored “the lack of will to respond to the needs of vulnerable developing countries”, through the voice of Samoan Cedric Schuster, once again disappointed with a multilateral process to which he nevertheless said he was attached.
Westerners, including Europeans, the world's leading donors of climate finance, were not ready to go beyond this amount, in a period of budgetary tightening and political upheaval. But believe they have contributed to a historic result.
Joe Biden hailed the agreement as an “important step” in the fight against global warming. And “if some seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution (…) no one can go back on it – no one”, underlined the American president, in an apparent reference to the climate skeptic attitude of his successor, Donald Trump .
From France's point of view, the text is “disappointing” and “not up to the challenges”, underlined the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher. She regretted “an absence of leadership from the Azerbaijani presidency”.
The European commissioner in charge of climate negotiations, Wopke Hoekstra, expressed regret: the Europeans would have “liked to see more ambition” on the reduction of greenhouse gases in all countries. Postponing this debate until next year “is a failure,” said Kévin Magron, French climate ambassador.
