Countries in attendance at the COP-29 UN climate summit have agreed on a new collective climate financing deal. Wealthy countries have pledged to provide poorer countries with $300B annually by 2035 to help them cope with the increasingly catastrophic effects of the climate crisis – a figure that many developing countries have criticized as woefully inadequate. The deal was reached after more than two weeks of complex negotiations and disputes.
However, there were fears that the talks would collapse, as groups representing vulnerable small island states and the least-developed countries walked out of the negotiations. However, an agreement was reached between nearly 200 countries. The funds will help vulnerable countries cope with increasingly destructive extreme weather conditions and transition their economies to clean energy.
The pledged amount, however, falls short of the $1.3T that economists estimate is needed to help developing countries cope with the climate crisis, which has sparked a furious reaction from many of these countries.