With recorded global temperatures hitting record highs and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe, the Conference of the Parties COP29 held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024 was supposed to bring together leaders from governments, business and civil society to advance concrete solutions to the defining issue of our time.

Trillions of dollars are required for poorer countries to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect lives and livelihoods from the worsening impacts of climate change, so a key focus of COP29 was on finance. Vulnerable nations were seeking at least $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 to deal with the damage caused by climate change and to adapt. And this is far less than some experts say is required.

Azerbaijan was strongly criticised for its running of COP29. Oil and gas make up 90% of Azerbaijan’s exports and fossil fuel interests were highly visible at the talks. Saudi Arabia was also accused of playing a highly obstructive role.

When COP29 officially ended on Friday November 22, wealthy countries offered to provide only $250 billion annually by 2035, less than 20% of what vulnerable nations were seeking.

The developing world reacted with anger, dismissing it as a “joke”. Civil society climate and environment advocates expressed their anger and disappointment at the draft by taping pieces of paper on their faces or foreheads with “Pay up!” written on them. Kelly Stone from ActionAid International Foundation explained to UN News, “I am wearing this because we are calling on Global North countries to pay up for climate finance and the debt they owe to the Global South.”

Negotiations continued over the weekend. The Guardian reported the final agreement included a target that by 2035 the developing world should receive at least $1.3 trillion a year, but only $300 billion will come from grants and low-interest loans from the developed world. The rest will have to come from private investors and a range of potential new sources of money, such as possible levies on fossil fuels and frequent flyers, which have yet to be agreed.

Campaigners described this as a “betrayal”. Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, said: “This [summit] 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. 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.”

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