An eleventh-hour proposal from a UN climate summit to channel $250bn to developing nations has fallen far short of the $1.3trn they need to cope with climate change.
The draft deal from the COP29 climate summit has infuriated vulnerable nations like Kenya, Uganda and Malawi, which are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, but did little to cause.
Ali Mohamed, speaking on behalf of more than 50 African nations, said the proposed $250bn target was “totally inadequate” and would lead to “unacceptable loss of life in Africa and around the world”.
Tina Stege, climate envoy for the extremely vulnerable Marshall Islands, called it “shameful”.
“This package puts small island developing states and the least developing countries first on the chopping block.”
She added: “It is incomprehensible that year after year we bring our stories of climate impacts to these meetings and receive only sympathy… We are not here to tell stories. We are here to save our communities.”
But tight public finances in wealthier countries as well as a swing to the right in some places makes a bigger number hard to sell back home.
The existing funding target of $100bn expires at the end of 2025.
Countries are keen to agree something at this COP rather than leave it to next year, when president-elect Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the US from global climate efforts, making a fraught process even harder.
The proposal from Friday is to scale up to $250bn a year by 2035, but gives a nod to the fact that, ideally, $1.3trn is needed.
A senior US official said $250bn would require “extraordinary reach”.
It only gently “invites” developing countries like China and Saudi Arabia to pay in. They have fiercely rejected calls from the US and EU to be obliged to formally contribute.
Former UK negotiator Stephen Cornelius, now with WWF UK, said developed countries will likely be happier with the draft than the developing countries.
“And I expect that there’ll be some fireworks later on in the plenary off the back of it,” he said.
The numbers and plans in the text are likely to change in the coming hours as countries battle over the details.
A German delegation source said: “Now is the time to build bridges to move the negotiations forward.”
The draft deal was released on Friday afternoon Baku time by host nation Azerbaijan, with just hours left on the clock, fuelling anger with the host country for moving far too slowly.
Mohamed Adow, who runs thinktank Power Shift Africa, said: “This COP presidency is one of the worst in recent memory, overseeing one of the most poorly led and chaotic COP meetings ever.
“COP summits are a delicate and precious thing, they require skill and determination in order to progress global climate action and land a successful deal.
“We only have a matter of hours remaining to save this COP from being remembered as a failure for the climate and embarrassment for the rich world.”
He said out loud what many diplomats have said privately, baffled that the presidency left it so late to bridge divides.
That sentiment is not universal, with other countries expressing sympathy with Azerbaijan for having to bring together almost 200 countries who want wildly different things.
Azerbaijan has never been a major player at previous COP talks, but has had plenty of back-up this week as it called in highly experienced ministers to help bring everything together, including UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Brazil’s climate chief Ana Toni.
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A spokesperson for the Azerbaijan COP29 presidency said: “We conducted an extensive and inclusive consultation process that extended into the early hours of the morning.”
They added: “These texts form a balanced and streamlined package for COP29. The COP29 presidency urges parties to study this text intently, to pave the way towards consensus, on the few options remaining.”