Azerbaijan’s 29th UN Climate Change Conference talks have stalled when the presidency left an ambiguous “X” where the global fund total figure for developing countries should be, The Guardian reported.
The draft texts unveiled early on Thursday morning, failed to establish a global target for the USD 1 trillion in new climate finance that developing countries urgently need. Instead of providing specific funding figures, the key section on the “New Collective Quantified Goal” (NCQG) simply left an “X,” leaving countries in uncertainty.
The Guardian quoted Oscar Soria, Director of the Common Initiative think tank who condemned the use of the placeholder “X” for climate finance.
“This is a dangerous ambiguity: inaction risks turning ‘X’ into the symbol of extinction for the world’s most vulnerable,” Soria said.
Recent data suggests that developing countries will need about USD 1.1 trillion in climate finance starting from 2025 and USD 1.8 trillion by 2030. The fund is supposed to help developing countries in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and cope with extreme weather phenomena, commonly linked with climate change.
With the COP29 summit scheduled to end on Friday night, the gap between positions remains wide, and the draft text has been criticized for lacking the “landing ground” needed to make a meaningful compromise.
Ministers and high-ranking officials are facing mounting pressure to resolve the deadlock in the final days of the summit, with the outcome of the talks set to shape the global climate finance landscape for years to come.