Climate finance talks face 'hardest' stage as COP29 nears end-game
Draft text set to drop later on Wednesday night
Annual finance for poorer countries dominates talks
Big gap in expectations from different countries
Updates with G77 comments in paragraph 6-8; negotiation detail, 9; detail on text, 13; Austrian minister 18; Saudi position 19-20
By Kate Abnett, Nailia Bagirova and Karin Strohecker
BAKU, Nov 20 (Reuters) -Countries at the COP29 climate summit were warned on Wednesday that the "hardest part" was about to start in talks over how much money should be provided to developing countries to help them cope with climate change.
Figuring out what form that funding takes, who pays and how much is the main task of this year's annual U.N. climate talks. With a notional Friday deadline looming, frustration over the lack of progress was starting to seep out of the negotiating rooms.
Yalchin Rafiyev, the chief negotiator of the summit's host Azerbaijan said "now the hardest part begins" ahead of a fresh text which is due to drop at midnight (2000 GMT) in the capital Baku.
Progress at the annual summit is typically marked through regular draft documents that get whittled down to a final deal.
Wealthy and developing countries are sharply divided over the size of the new goal. It will replace a 2020 pledge by developed countries - delivered two years late - to provide $100 billion per year in climate finance.
Uganda's Adonia Ayebare, who chairs the G77 and China group of more than 130 developing countries, said its demand was for wealthy nations to provide $1.3 trillion in public climate finance per year.
"The frustration is that the other side has not given us a counter offer," Ayebare told Reuters.
"We are hearing $300 billion. But if that is true, that's really not acceptable. It's embarrassing," he said.
Another developing country negotiator told Reuters the European Union had floated $200 billion or $300 billion in informal talks. But on Wednesday, the EU maintained it did not have an official position on the number.
EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said the bloc was not willing to talk about the figure until it had more structural details, adding: "Otherwise you will have a shopping basket with a price, but you don't know exactly what is in there".
Countries are still at odds over whether large, still-developing economies - including the world's second-biggest economy China - will contribute towards the goal.
Egypt's Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, said countries had agreed better off developing nations would not be legally obliged to pay in.
Azerbaijan's Rafiyev said the COP29 presidency would produce a tighter text overnight. In simple terms, a 25-page document stuffed with multiple options for almost every paragraph needs to become a two page document that can be refined in the final days and then adopted.
"We will have shorter, more concise, straight to the point, texts," Rafiyev said.
FOSSIL FUELS
While talks on finance have been slow, those on speeding up efforts to cut climate-damaging emissions are proving as tough.
After agreeing a landmark deal to transition away from fossil fuels in Dubai last year, countries had so far failed to agree on language that would take that work forward in Baku.
Austria's climate minister Leonore Gewessler told Reuters the Arab group of countries led by Saudi Arabia had been "very vocal in watering down the mitigation part" of negotiations.
A representative for Saudi Arabia's delegation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has previously described the Dubai deal as a menu of options - suggesting not all countries will select quitting fossil fuels as their chosen path forward.
OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais used a speech at the summit to say crude oil and natural gas were a gift from God, echoing words of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, whose opening speech hit out at Western critics of the industry.
Getting a fresh commitment on cutting emissions more quickly has been thrown into sharp relief by a growing belief among scientists that the world's aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could soon be beyond reach.
Recent trends, if not changed, "will drive us to crossing 1.5 in the early 2030s or even slightly before", said French climatologist Robert Vautard.
Reporting by Kate Abnett, Nailia Bagirova, Karin Strohecker and Gloria Dickie; Writing by Simon Jessop; Editing by Alexander Smith and Ros Russell
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
