Olusegun Ariyo
The UN climate talks ended on Saturday night in Baku, Azerbaijan, following two weeks of intense negotiations, whose primary focus was establishing a new financial goal. The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) was aimed at ensuring developed nations provide the necessary financial support for developing nations towards mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.
However, developing nations are leaving Baku a disgruntled lot, frustrated with a drawn-out process that has fallen well short of delivering the at least $1 trillion figure in grant-based climate finance they were aiming for.
Instead, the outcome only proposes the “paltry” amount of $300 billion annually by 2035, which accounts for only 30% of the resources demanded by developing nations and owed to them by the developed world. It is also of note that this amount is expected to have a significant decrease by 3035 due to inflation. Furthermore, the deal includes loans, despite the recognition of the need for grants.
Developed nations also attempted to shift responsibility to developing nations to mobilise more domestic resources disregarding historical emissions and the disproportionate financial burden borne by climate-vulnerable nations.
This inequity was further compounded by the pervasive influence of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP29, raising concerns about how their presence undermines interventions aimed at addressing the climate crisis.
In a swift reaction, Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: “At COP29, developed nations once again coerced developing countries into accepting a financial deal woefully inadequate to address the gravity of our global climate crisis. The deal fails to provide the critical support required for developing countries to transition swiftly from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy systems, or to prepare for the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, leaving them severely under-resourced.
“The outcome offers false hope to those already bearing the brunt of climate disasters and abandons vulnerable communities and nations, leaving them to face these immense challenges alone. We must persist in our fight, demanding a significant increase in financing and holding developed countries to account for delivering real, impactful actions.”
Mohamed Adow, Director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, said: “This COP has been a disaster for the developing world. It’s a betrayal of both people and planet, by wealthy countries who claim to take climate change seriously.
to ‘mobilize’ some funds in the future “Rich countries have promised to ‘mobilise’ some funds in the future, rather than provide them now. The cheque is in the mail. But lives and livelihoods in vulnerable countries are being lost now. At this ‘Finance COP’ not a single dollar of real climate finance has been provided right now.
“Not only did the global north impose a low-ball finance figure, but it comes into force 11 years from now. This deal is too little, too late.
Wit to be mobilized to be mobilized“The rich world staged a great escape in Baku. Witto is mobilized to be mobilised, they are trying to shirk their climate finance obligations. Leaving the world without the resources needed to avert climate catastrophe.
Poor countries needed to see clear, grant-based, climate finance that would boost their ability to deal with the impacts of the climate crisis and accelerate their decarbonization efforts. But that was sorely lacking.
“On the one hand, the US is forcing the global south to accept a low finance figure in Baku because they say the Donald Trump administration will give even less next year. But at the same time, they are promising a ‘roadmap’ to mobilizing $1.3 trillion in private finance next year in Brazil, when it will be a Trump-appointed team representing the US.
“Baku will also be remembered for enabling rich polluters to cheat their way out of actual emission reductions through the use of dubious pollution permit markets. The carbon market rules will allow the richest to continue polluting, placing at risk the 1.5C target, while shifting the burden to developing countries.
“This has been a shamefully led summit by Azerbaijan which deserves to be a global embarrassment for the wealthy countries and the COP president that facilitated them to dodge their obligations.”
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network, said: “This has been the most horrendous climate negotiations in years due to the bad faith of developed countries. This was meant to be the finance COP, but the Global North turned up with a plan to betray the Global South. In the end, we saw the same story play out, with developing countries been left with little choice but to accept a bad deal. As civil society, we called on developing countries to reject a bad deal, a deal that would betray the people in the Global South. We are not defeated; we will fight back home; we will be out in numbers and louder than ever. The fight is far from over.”
The stated goal of these meetings and the 2016 Paris Agreement.
“The commitments made in Baku – the dollar amounts pledged, and the emissions reductions promised – are not enough. They were never going to be enough. And even then, based on our experience with such pledges in the past, we know they will not be fulfilled.
“Just before the September United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Europe was hammered by unprecedented rain and flooding. Two months later, New York City was plagued by historic drought and brushfires. All throughout, large swathes of the Amazon rainforest burned hot enough to generate national emergencies. The inability of the Global North to make a dent in the climate crisis – much less derail it – is a global tragedy.”
Andreas Sieber, Policy Lead at 350.org, said: “In Baku, we saw the future of our planet and the dignity of countless lives diminished to the minimum, a concession to wealthy governments determined to evade their moral and financial responsibilities. What was presented as progress was, in reality, the lowest common denominator.
“Rich nations, led by the EU, USA, and Japan, failed to rise above this mediocrity, neglecting their historical responsibility. Their reluctance to prioritise ambition and equity leaves the most vulnerable without meaningful protection for their rights, lands, and future. The failure of this agreement underscores a troubling truth: those with the greatest capacity to lead continue to fall short when it matters most.”
Namrata Chowdhary, Head of Public Engagement at 350.org, said: “Once again, inequity has driven a hard bargain that the vulnerable have no choice but to accept. Rich countries have failed to honour their responsibilities and shown up with rigid unwillingness to meet this moment with the ambition required to address the climate crisis. As this deal gets pushed through in this dark, disappointing moment, we continue to stand in solidarity with those most impacted by both – a crisis they did not cause, and a result they could not influence.
“This deal has failed to meet the ambition needed, but as we’ve seen over the past two weeks in the halls of the COP venue and the many actions held across the world, hope and ambition are alive and well in the climate movement. We are already looking ahead and preparing to build new momentum in the global movement for climate justice, with a wave of campaigns and mobilisations focused on real solutions to the climate crisis.”
Nikki Reisch, CIEL’s Director of the Climate & Energy Programme, said: “COP29 was a dumpster fire. Except it’s not trash that’s burning – it’s our planet. And developed countries are holding both the matches and the firehose. Their refusal to pay up for climate action and harm, or to phase out fossil fuels, in line with their legal obligations, denies Global South countries their due and puts a livable future at risk.
“Big polluters are to blame for this insulting outcome. For decades, they have diluted their legal obligations and blocked climate negotiations from tackling the climate crisis with the urgency, ambition, and equity needed. By allowing carbon removal offsets into the climate regime and fossil fuel lobbyists into these negotiations, they’ve blown loopholes through ambition and let the fox into the henhouse. The same rich countries that will not pony up resources to ensure a global transition away from fossil fuels are propping up the fossil fuel industry with trillions of dollars in subsidies and investments in new projects.
“By shirking their legal duties, big polluters sought to make the Paris Agreement go up in smoke. Accountability for the climate crisis will not end with the weak agreement reached at COP29. Civil society movements will keep demanding justice, and polluters will continue to be held accountable in courtrooms and the court of public opinion around the world. The climate hearings at the International Court of Justice in December offer a chance to clarify states’ legal obligations under international law. That clarity may prove a powerful antidote to the political inertia and lowest common denominator outcomes on full display in Baku.”
Erika Lennon, CIEL Senior Attorney, said: “Paying to pollute will never be a climate solution, and carbon markets will never be climate finance. Creating a Paris-sanctioned carbon market that could be more dangerous than the scandal-ridden voluntary carbon markets, is not a win for people or the planet. It’s a win for big polluters and carbon cowboys. And it does not make up for failing to provide public finance. Agreeing to weak rules that lack transparency, accountability, or meaningful oversight is not a cooperative approach for achieving more ambitious climate action, but a recipe for disaster.
“With the gavelling of standards on methodologies and removals, the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism has flung open its doors to removal activities that are nothing more than a dangerous distraction. Going forward it is essential to ensure this mechanism enforces its standards and properly ensures that other relevant international environmental agreements – including those that place a moratorium on geoengineering – apply to activities.”
Rachel Kennerley, CIEL Carbon Capture Global Campaigner, said: “We’ve witnessed a huge lobbying effort at this year’s climate talks from companies promoting speculative and unreliable carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology as a climate solution. But CCS has repeatedly failed to deliver. Instead, it serves only to create loopholes and justifications to allow polluters to keep on polluting.
Lien Vandamme, CIEL Senior Campaigner Human Rights and Climate Change said: “The climate finance outcome shoved down climate-vulnerable countries’ throats at COP29 is the definition of a bad deal. The new climate finance goal of $300 billion is a drop in the ocean of the massive and growing needs, effectively denying any form of justice for those on the frontlines of the climate crisis and pushing developing countries deeper into debt. Without a real commitment to providing grants-based finance and riddled with loopholes to avoid any obligation to pay, this agreement is yet another demonstration of wealthy countries’ continued attempts to undermine the UN climate agreements and escape long-standing obligations under international law.
“With 480 CCS lobbyists at COP29, it is clear the fossil fuel industry is investing heavily in selling CCS to secure their future despite the need for climate action. Unfortunately, countries seem to be buying into the pipe dream. The COP29 outcome wedges open windows for this proven-to-fail technology and other false solutions like carbon markets, gas, and hydrogen. Carbon Capture and Storage is siphoning away energy and money from the real climate action we need.”
“The exclusion of loss and damage from the climate finance goal is outrageous. It denies major historical polluters’ obligations to remedy the massive harm that the financial goalthe finance goal is another indication that the climate negotiations are evolving in isolation from existing legal norms. A climate finance goal – especially one encompassing private finance – without human rights safeguards will compound harm to communities and ecosystems. The International Court of Justice’s upcoming clarification of the legal obligations of States in the context of climate change could not be timelier and more urgent.”
Sebastien Duyck, CIEL Senior Attorney and Human Rights and Climate Change Manager, said: “The climate emergency demands bold action fueled by public participation and accountability, yet COP29 fell far short of both these standards. Hosted in Azerbaijan, where dissent was crushed through arrests of civil society members and journalists ahead of the conference, the COP29 mirrored the host country’s disdain for basic rights.
“The UN compounded the problem by curtailing speech within the conference, even as fossil fuel lobbyists thrived, working to dilute climate commitments. If future COPs are to matter, States and the UN must reject corporate interference and fiercely protect the civic spaces needed to drive urgent climate action.”
Camilla Pollerto prioritize gender justiceto prioritise gender justice is yet another demonstration of the wrong turn taken in Baku. Despite the critical need for ambitious gender-just climate outcomes, negotiations faced persistent pushbacks against anything that could strengthen the Lima Work Programme on Gender, culminating in a weak outcome. Women – in all their diversity – on the frontlines and standing up for environmental rights are facing unique threats, as they challenge the exploitation of land and natural resources while confronting entrenched gender discrimination.
“The final decision is a missed opportunity to ensure comprehensive protection and support for women environmental human rights defenders. The absence of a political commitment at the COP to protect their fundamental rights further marginalises their voices and weakens the pursuit of just and effective climate action. Now, the new Gender Action Plan must fill this gap.”
Least Developed Countries Group on Climate Change: “The Least Developed Countries Group on Climate Change is outraged and deeply hurt by the outcome of COP29. Once again, the countries most responsible for the climate crisis have failed us. We leave Baku without an ambitious climate finance goal, without concrete plans to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, and without the comprehensive support desperately needed for adaptation and loss and damage.
“This is not just a failure; it is a betrayal.
“Three years of relentless effort by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) engaging in good faith, building solutions, and striving for justice have been casually dismissed. Powerful nations have shown no leadership, no ambition, and no regard for the lives of billions of people on the front lines of the climate crisis.
“The just-ended UN Climate Change Conference has proven what we feared: the voices of our 1.1 billion people have been ignored. Despite exhaustive efforts to collaborate with key players, our pleas were met with indifference. This outright dismissal erodes the fragile trust that underpins these negotiations and mocks the spirit of global solidarity.
“The bulldozed New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is a glaring symbol of this failure:
