– So let’s drop the show and get started with the real work, says UN climate chief Simon Stiell. The countries are far apart and many are dissatisfied with the slow progress. – We must not lose sight of the forest because we are arguing about individual trees, said UN climate chief Simon Stiell about the negotiations in Baku on Monday. Photo: Murad Sezer / Reuters – This has been the worst first week of a COP in the 15 years I have attended this summit. That was said by director Mohamed Adow at the climate think tank Power Shift Africa at the weekend, which indicates that the climate financing target is currently completely in the blue. Money The most important negotiating issue at COP29 is to land a new global climate finance target. It is about how much money rich countries have to pay poor countries, in order to speed up the transition from coal and oil to renewable energy. The money will also be used to cope with sea level rise and generally adapt to a new everyday life with more extreme weather and heat, created by climate change. Different regions have different needs to deal with climate change. For example, many countries in Africa and Asia need financial support for climate adaptation, while Latin America is in great need of technology for sustainable development. Island states, such as Vanuatu and the Philippines, face specific challenges such as natural disasters and rising seas. Environmental activists protest during COP29 in Baku. Photo: Maxim Shemetov / Reuters Norwegian climate and environment minister Tore O. Sandvik (Ap) is in Baku. Sandvik emphasizes that financial challenges for Western countries, which must pay the most, make the negotiations difficult. According to him, the biggest obstacles to an agreement are a realistic financing target, and that large emitters such as China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia must contribute to reach the target. People – The vulnerable countries are suffering from climate crises that we did not cause. That’s what climate activist Marinel Sumook Ubaldo, from the Philippines, says. In the past month alone, there have been six typhoons in the island nation located in the western Pacific Ocean. This weekend’s typhoon claimed at least eight lives. This is what it looks like in Tuguegarao City in the Philippines after super typhoon Man-yi. Photo: John Dimain / AFP When Ubaldo was 16 years old, she was hit by two super typhoons, which came right after each other. Super typhoon Haiyan in 2013 took many thousands of lives and destroyed entire communities. Now Ubaldo is at COP29 and is asking the rich countries to pay, so that vulnerable communities can adapt to climate change and cut emissions. – We can save the lives of our loved ones and our children, says Ubaldo. Disagreement Until now, the countries are far from agreeing on who will pay and how much will be put into the pot. In 2015, a goal was set that rich countries should pay 100 billion dollars, until 2025. Now a new amount is to be determined. That’s why the negotiations are so difficult Many developing countries that are experiencing major consequences of climate change went to the climate summit in the hope of securing money to cut emissions and adapt to the changes. But after a week of negotiations in Baku, it seems a long way from an agreement on the meeting’s most important issue. Swipe on to understand why the countries are struggling to agree on money for climate-prone countries. AP How much money? Today, rich countries pay 100 billion dollars a year for climate finance. Most people at the meeting agree that this amount must be increased. Developing countries have asked for more than a tenfold increase, but there are still proposals on the table that do not say anything about how big the amount should be. The demand for 1,300 billion dollars a year corresponds to about three quarters of the Norwegian oil fund, or 1 percent of the world’s GDP. AP Who will pay? One of the reasons why no one has locked in an amount may be that there is also no agreement on who will pay. Norway, the EU, the USA and other countries will bring more people to share the bill . They believe that countries such as China and India must also contribute. So far, the negotiations have not led to major clarifications. There is also a desire for private investors and development banks to contribute, not just the countries. AFP The difficult details Several technical details are also unclear: Should the financing start in 2025 or 2026? How long will it last? How will the money be distributed between different types of climate consequences? Who will have access to the money? So far the negotiations in Baku have led to more uncertainty than clarity in what a possible agreement should look like. The proposal ranges from around NOK 11,000 billion to NOK 14,000 billion. – If the political leadership is unable to contribute to solving the problems surrounding the new funding target, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get countries to talk about other important topics, such as emission cuts. This is according to Inga Fritzen Buan, senior advisor in international climate policy at the WWF World Wildlife Fund. Tid UN climate secretary Simon Stiell says the negotiations have to go faster. – What is at stake here in Baku is nothing less than the ability to halve emissions during this decade and protect lives and livelihoods against increasing climate consequences, he says. This week, the climate and environment ministers are in place to participate in the negotiations. The Norwegian climate minister agrees that the negotiations should proceed more quickly. – The world needs us to reduce emissions quickly. The goal is realistic and fair climate policy. He tells news that the negotiations on the climate finance target are demanding, but that the atmosphere between the countries is good. According to Sandvik, some countries are despairing and angry, while others have hope and are working hard for a decision. Norway’s climate and environment minister Tore O. Sandvik came to Baku today. Here he meets South Africa’s Environment Minister Dion George and President of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev. Photo: Eivind Molde / news Mukhtar Babayev is president of COP29. Today, he also emphasized that it must go faster. – People have told me that they are worried about the status of the negotiations. Let me be clear. I am also concerned that the parties are not moving towards each other quickly enough. It’s time for them to move faster. Published 18.11.2024, at 20.15
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Frustration increases at the climate summit – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
