UN reaches $300B climate finance deal to help developing countries

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Jack Aylmer Anchor

By Jack Aylmer (Anchor), Roey Hadar (Producer)

The United Nations reached an agreement pledging at least $300 billion per year to help developing nations in the fight against the effects of climate change. The U.N.’s secretary-general called it a “base to build on.”

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Developing countries criticized the deal for falling short of their request for over $1 trillion annually.

“We are failing planet and people once again at this COP,” Juan Carlos Gomez, Panama’s special representative for climate change, said. “After decades of empty mitigation and climate finance promises, emissions have more than doubled, and we are on a pathway to assassinate half of all living creatures on Earth.”

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The delegates at the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan reached the deal over the weekend of Nov. 23. They also agreed to aim for upping the amount to $1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres released a statement saying the deal represented progress. However, he did address the deal’s shortcomings.

“I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome – on both finance and mitigation – to meet the great challenge we face,” Guterres said.

The negotiations at this year’s climate summit come as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January 2025.

Countries discussed the amount of the deal while preparing for the likelihood the U.S. won’t be participating. Trump said he plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.

Trump previously pulled out of the agreement in 2017, before President Joe Biden rejoined.

2023 was the warmest year on record. Climate scientists with the European Union say 2024 will almost certainly break that record.

They say it’ll also be the first year to go higher than the increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. That’s the level climate scientists say the Earth needs to limit climate change to in order for it to be reversible.

Tags: Azerbaijan, COP29, Climate Change, Paris Accords, United Nations

Jack Aylmer: The United Nations reached a climate agreement pledging at least $300 billion per year to help developing nations in the fight against the effects of climate change. The U.N.’s Secretary-General called it a “base to build on,” as developing countries criticized the deal for falling short of their request for over $1 trillion annually.

Juan Carlos Gomez / Panama’s Special Representative for Climate Change: “We are failing planet and people once again at this COP. After decades of empty mitigation and climate finance promises, emissions have more than doubled, and we are on a pathway to assassinate half of all living creatures on Earth.”

Jack Aylmer: The delegates at the COP-29 summit in Azerbaijan reached the deal over the weekend. They also agreed to aim for upping the amount to $1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres put out a statement saying the deal represented progress. But he acknowledged, “I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome – on both finance and mitigation – to meet the great challenge we face.”

The negotiations at this year’s climate summit have come ahead of President-elect Donald Trump entering the White House in January.

Countries discussed the amount of the deal while preparing for the likelihood the U.S. would not be participating. President-elect Trump has said he plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, which has governed the UN’s recent climate funding efforts. Trump previously pulled out of the agreement in 2017, before President Biden rejoined.

2023 was the warmest year on record. And climate scientists with the European Union say 2024 is not only going to break that record. But it will also be the first to go higher than the increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. That’s the level climate scientists say Earth needs to limit climate change to in order for it to be reversible.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Jack Aylmer.

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