December 18, 2024
Political support key for finance deal: COP29 head | Latest News India #IndiaFinance

Political support key for finance deal: COP29 head | Latest News India #IndiaFinance

CashNews.co

There is no excuse for anyone to arrive at UN Climate meeting (COP29) in Baku without clear political support to make progress on the negotiations related to the new financial goal which is to be set from the floor of $100 billion for the post-2025 period, COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev said on Monday.

COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev. (REUTERS)

“We have done well to narrow down options, and the possible shapes of landing zones are coming into view. But we can clearly see the divides that the Parties still need to bridge,” Babyev said adding: “In Baku last week we made sure ministers have understood the outstanding issues in this critical final phase of negotiations. They must now return to their capitals to secure the mandates they need for the breakthroughs they must deliver. There is no excuse for anyone to arrive at COP29 without clear political support to make progress, as we urgently work to turn this draft into a deal.”

“Funding needs were in the space of the trillions of dollars, but that we have heard different perspectives on how to achieve that ambition,” said Lead COP29 negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev. The quantum of this funding, the so-called New Collective and Quantified Goal (NCQG), has been one of the major outstanding issues among developed and developing parties in the negotiations.

Rafiyev also added that a realistic goal for what the public sector could directly provide and mobilise seems to be in the “hundreds of billions.”

The new goal has to respond to its purpose of addressing the needs and priorities of developing countries, including small island developing states and the least developed countries. The COP29 Presidency focused also on importance of qualitative elements such as transparency and accessibility and underlined the need for agreeing all elements of the NCQG at COP29, officials said.

The Azerbaijan COP29 Presidency has concluded a week of intensive climate diplomacy in Baku to bridge divides and deliver early progress on key, outstanding issues ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in November. The meetings were attended by ministers, heads of delegations, negotiators, and constituencies from around the world and included two heads of delegation meetings, a high level ministerial dialogue, and the pre-COP conference.

In his address to Pre-COP participants, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan said: “As we are entering into the final stage of preparations to the COP29, I call on you to engage constructively and in good faith for the sake of humanity. While states have common but differentiated responsibilities, they should put aside disagreements, stop blaming each other and find common ground. We cannot afford to waste time on defining who is guilty for global warming, or who caused more environmental harm.”

HT reported on September 13 that the United Nations Climate Convention’s Standing Committee on Finance has estimated that implementing the nationally determined contributions (NDCs; basically emission reduction commitments) of 98 developing countries would require $455–584 billion per year. But developing countries disagree and have submitted to UN that the new collective quantified goal (a financial target that will support developing countries’ climate actions after 2025) should be in trillions, in keeping with real needs of developing nations. Experts too, have taken exception to the standing committee report.

HT reported on August 31 that a draft document on the new climate finance goal, to be negotiated at the UN Climate Conference COP29 in November, indicates developing countries expect contributions in the trillions from developed nations for climate change mitigation efforts.

According to the document, the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group, which includes India, expects at least $1 trillion mobilised by developed countries yearly from 2025 to 2030, with updates until 2035 based on evolving needs.

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