The finance goal for developing countries under negotiation at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, must include a core public finance target from developed countries, with fund allocation floors for least developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing states (Sids), delegates from developing countries said today.
The goal, the so-called new collective and quantified goal (NCQG), must include a core public finance provision target by developed countries based on a burden sharing agreement, and a fund mobilisation target, said regional alliance the African Group of Negotiators' (AGN) lead co-ordinator for finance Richard Sherman.
The goal should address mitigation — action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and also adaptation and loss and damage, he said. Adaptation refers to adjustments to avoid global warming effects, while loss and damage describes the unavoidable and irreversible effects of such change.
The goal needs to offer "predictable finance" for adaptation and loss and damage for small economies with more limited resources, and recognise the "special case of Sids", said Samoa's environment minister and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster. He said the amount to be agreed at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku for developing countries' climate finance should include "minimum allocation floors" of $39bn/yr for SIDs and $220bn/yr for LDCs. Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said parties should make sure no finance supporting development of fossil fuels is counted in the new goal.
AGN reiterated today that it wants a climate finance commitment of $1.3 trillion/yr by 2030, mostly through concessional instruments and grants.
The NCQG follows on from the current $100bn/yr target, which is broadly recognised as inadequate. Developed nations surpassed the goal by $15.9bn in 2022, but it was missed in 2020 and 2021, according to the OECD. AGN contests it has never been met.
Negotiations on the NCQG have begun in Baku, but are in the early stages with developed countries unwilling to commit to a figure, a delegate said.
A group of leading Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) estimated yesterday that they could increase climate financing to $120bn/yr by 2030 for low- and middle-income countries. The group, comprising the World Bank and nine other MDBs including the European Investment Bank, hopes to leverage an additional $65bn/yr from the private sector.
MDBs accounted for around 40pc of the $115.9bn in climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries to developing nations in 2022, according to the OECD. The role of MDBs is crucial as increased climate ambition can only be met with increased finance, said Chile's environment minister Maisa Rojas. But Fiji's deputy prime minister Biman Prasad said the increase coming from MDBs is not going to translate into "additional finance unless there is a clear agreement at this Cop".
