COP29 ends with deal on climate finance after bitter fight

Nearly 200 countries agreed to triple the amount of money available to help developing countries confront rapidly warming temperatures. But the deal reached at the close of the two-week COP29 summit in Azerbaijan resulted from fractious and at times openly hostile negotiations, producing an agreement that even its supporters may see as insufficient and disappointing. The process of global climate cooperation will lurch forward from here under the weight of heavier existential questions.

Global temperature rise is on the cusp of 1.5C — a critical tipping point for avoiding the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.

“We needed to leave Baku with an agreement to keep the multilateral system alive,” said Juan Carlos Monterrey-Gomez, Panama’s special representative for climate change. “We kept the system alive. But I think 1.5 is dead.”

Rich countries have pledged to provide at least $300 billion annually by 2035, through a wide variety of sources, including public finance as well as bilateral and multilateral deals. The agreement also calls on parties to work toward unleashing a total of $1.3 trillion a year, with most of it expected to come through private financing.

Developed and developing countries entered the negotiations far apart. At one point on Saturday, 23 Nov,the talks appeared to be on the brink of collapse, before numerous closed-door meetings brought a deal closer.