Activists, poorer nations criticise $300bn COP29 deal
A finance deal reached at the COP29 summit to help poorer countries tackle climate change has been bitterly criticised, climate activists are calling for more action
Days of negotiations in Azerbaijan – that extended the talks by more than 30 hours – saw richer countries agree to raise their contribution to $300bn a year by 2035
Western leaders welcomed the deal, with US President Joe Biden saying it puts the world “one significant step closer” to achieving our climate goals
But the African Group of Negotiators described it as “too little, too late”
A similar feeling was echoed by the representative from India, who dismissed the money as “a paltry sum”
Poorer countries had asked for $1.3 trillion to help them fight the climate battle
The head of Greenpeace’s delegation at COP29 says the last-minute climate finance deal is “woefully inadequate”, blaming countries that export fossil fuels as “merchants of despair”.
Jasper Inventor says the “true opponents are the fossil fuel merchants of despair and reckless nature destroyers who hide snugly behind every government’s low climate ambition”.
“People are fed-up, disillusioned,” Inventor says, adding that “we will not give up”.
“As we look to COP30 in Belem [in Brazil], we must hold on to hope – hope that is firmly anchored on people demanding climate ambition,” he adds.
