COP29: What happened on day 11 of the UN climate conference?

Negotiations are still ongoing over draft texts in Baku but we're getting some rest for now with the hope of movement in the morning.

Here's what you missed today:

• After hours of delay, a draft text was published proposing $250 billion a year by 2035 for developing nations.
• It also included a more aspirational goal that calls for $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 from all public and private sources.
• The Azerbaijani Presidency said the text offered a "balanced and streamlined" way forward.
• But there has been major backlash from civil society groups and climate-vulnerable countries. The Alliance of Small Island States called the annual $250 billion figure a "shoddy placebo figure".
• We've now blown well past the 6pm Baku time scheduled end of the summit and are officially well into overtime.

We'll be back first thing tomorrow to update you on where things stand. Will we have a final deal? Will there be more draft texts to pore over? Join us then to find out.

We're well into overtime now in Baku. If you're new to these proceedings, that might come as a surprise but blasting past the Friday deadline isn't that unusual.

Last year, COP28 ran over by 23 hours. COP27 in 2022 was the second-longest UNFCCC COP finishing more than 39 hours later than planned at around 9:20am on Sunday.

The longest-ever overrun was COP25 in Madrid which finally closed at 1:55pm on Sunday - almost 44 hours late.

There have been a handful which have wrapped up on time (or even early!) since COP1 in Berlin in 1995. COP5 in Bonn finished five hours ahead of schedule.

But that isn't the case in Baku and as the years have gone by, the trend is for the gavel to go down later and later. The last time a closing session happened as scheduled was COP9 in Milan in 2003. Could we be heading for a new record? Only time will tell.

The Alliance Of Small Island States (AOSIS) said in a statement that it cannot be expected to agree to a text which shows “contempt for our vulnerable people".

AOSIS - which includes countries like Samoa, Tonga, Barbados and Bermuda - says the $250 billion a year target will "severely stagnate climate action efforts".

"It is an investment goal that stands at a fraction of the at least $1.3 trillion that is needed to effectively protect our world from the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

"It does not raise the bar from the previous ineffective $100 billion goal."

The alliance called it a "shoddy placebo goal" and appealed to the "moral conscience of those who proclaim to be our partners to stand with us".

"For 30 years, SIDS have been bearing the costs and the burden of climate impacts. All we ask is that we are guaranteed and receive the protection that is promised to us under the Paris Agreement. This ask is not a threat. It is just a matter of justice."

A slightly more optimistic take from some analysts is that this $250 billion a year proposal could be a good basis for more money to come from other sources.

"If this was the final deal, my view would be that this is a good downpayment that would allow further climate finance and action for developing countries," says Melanie Robinson, global climate program director at the World Resources Institute.

There is scope, she adds, to go above $250 billion if some of the voluntary contributors choose to do so alongside the goal.

As all eyes are glued to the latest draft text, today's Fossil of the Day has been awarded to host country Azerbaijan.

"A country that doesn’t understand the gravity of the Presidency, or the value of civil society," says Climate Action Network International (CAN)

"Azerbaijan has fallen short of the leadership needed here, which shouldn’t be that hard given the previous two COPs were hosted by the fossil fuel industry."

Today’s fossil goes to a country that doesn’t understand the gravity of the Presidency, or the value of civil society. Azerbaijan 🇦🇿has fallen short of the leadership needed here, which shouldn’t be that hard given the previous two COPs were hosted by the fossil fuel industry. pic.twitter.com/Sva3amhNzt

— Climate Action Network International (CAN) (@CANIntl) November 22, 2024

The network of civil society groups says the tone set in the opening days by praising fossil fuels as "gifts from god" did not bode well for the summit.

"This COP was anticipated for its crucial focus on finance. If an agreement is not reached on a justice-based finance deal, then it will be people all over the world who will suffer from the lack of ambition, adaptation and ability to recover.

"Their take-it-or-leave-it approach is putting at risk not only the climate finance goal, but also other crucial topics failing to advance human rights-based climate action, such as the Just Transition & Gender Work Programmes."

The Colossal Fossil Award goes to...

Annex Two Countries - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

"The biggest and baddest fossil of COP29 goes unsurprisingly to those most responsible for causing the climate crisis," CAN says.

"They are trying to escape their legal obligations to pay the finance necessary for the world to meet the 1.5ºC goal.

"How do they sleep at night, delaying, obstructing, and minimising their obligations all while people are dying in the Philippines – 171 people have died from 6 tropical storms hitting their coast during these 11 days at COP29." 

Countries are due to give their official reactions to the new draft texts at a plenary in Baku. Word on the ground is that this will start at 10pm local time (7pm CET for those of us not at COP29).

The online schedule doesn't yet give a time.

Obed Koringo, climate policy advisor with social justice advocates CARE International tells Euronews reporter Robert Hodgson that, for Africa, no deal could be better than a bad deal.

"Our countries are already highly indebted. We are already paying huge debts, and we are paying huge debts because of climate change that we actually haven't caused," Koringo says.

"The amount is a joke. It's totally a joke and it's unacceptable... For Africa where I come from, what we are saying is...no deal is better than a bad deal. And this is a very bad deal."

Green MEP Michael Bloss has described the proposal as "unacceptable for the poorest countries".

It is not expected to be available for another 10 years - and then it will be less than half of what is needed," Bloss said in a post on social media site X.

"The EU must abandon its narrow-mindedness if it wants COP29 to be a success."

Gastgeberländer der Klimakonferenz dürfen nicht Handlanger fossiler Interessen sein. Ihre Klimapolitik muss auf den Prüfstand, bevor sie Verhandlungen leiten dürfen! Ohne verbindliche Mechanismen wird die COP sonst zu einem Feigenblatt für die Zerstörung unserer Zukunft. #COP29

— Michael Bloss (@micha_bloss) November 22, 2024

"I'm so mad. It's ridiculous. Just ridiculous," says Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, Panama's special representative for climate change, adding that the proposed amount is too low.

"It feels that the developed world wants the planet to burn."

Rachel Cleetus, policy director and a lead economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists says the "paltry climate finance offer" of $250 billion a year by 2035 brings richer nations including EU and US "dangerously close to betraying the Paris Agreement".

"This is nowhere near the robust and desperately needed funding lower-income nations deserve to combat climate change. The central demand coming into COP29 was for a strong, science-aligned climate finance commitment, which this appalling text utterly fails to provide.

"Wealthier nations seem content to shamefully renege on their responsibility and cave in to fossil fuel interests while unjustly foisting the costs of deadly climate extremes on countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis."

Amar Bhattacharya, Vera Songwe and Nicholas Stern, co-chairs of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance have said this $250 billion core finance figure is "too low" and "not consistent with the delivery of the Paris Agreement".

In a joint statement, the group that advises COP on the climate finance agenda welcomed the $1.3 trillion wider goal saying it is "consistent with our analysis of the investments and external finance required by developing countries outside China to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement".

But, they say the core $250 billion a year figure from developed to developing countries is "too low".

"Our analysis shows that the NCQG, based on the components that it covers, should commit developed countries to provide at least $300 billion per year by 2030, and $390 billion per year by 2035."

Finance is the focus right now at COP29 but more than just the NCQG draft dropped this afternoon.

There has been concern that the phrase "transition away from fossil fuels" - a key achievement from the deal made at COP28 in Dubai last year - could be rolled back. Yesterday, Saudi Arabia pushed back at a plenary saying it "will not accept any text that targets any specific sectors, including fossil fuels".

The key phrase has survived negotiations so far with "transitioning away from fossil fuels" mentioned in the latest draft texts. It is in there but in a pretty convoluted way. Here's the exact wording:

"Underscores the multisectoral and multidimensional nature of just transitions and the resultant need for whole-of-economy approaches to just transitions that engage the private sector, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, contribute to the creation of green, decent jobs and facilitate access to affordable energy through increasing renewable energy capacity and recognizes that such approaches include significant socioeconomic opportunities associated with transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems"

As countries take time to pore over the new finance text before giving formal responses today, civil society groups have been quick to react. Their comments are overwhelmingly negative; they argue the proposed $250bn per year in climate finance by 2035 falls drastically short of what is needed.

“The Global North must stop playing poker with people’s lives and pay their overdue debt. We need real leadership - from wealthy nations and the Presidency - to land this deal. If they can’t deliver, they must step aside, because we will not accept a bad deal that fails to meet the moment,” says Namrata Chowdhary, head of public engagement at 350.org.

"At COP29, we hold the line in our demand for more climate finance, not this bare minimum offer.”

In a similar vein, Oxfam International's climate justice lead, Safa’ Al Jayoussi, has branded the new text a “shameful failure of leadership”.

“The COP29 Presidency’s top-down ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ approach has sidelined progressive voices. All while rich countries boycott climate justice by refusing to pay up and putting only false solutions on the table. No deal would be better than a bad deal, but let’s be clear - there is only one option for those grappling with the harshest impacts of climate collapse: trillions, not billions, in public and grants-based finance.”

Accompanying the release of the new climate finance text, the Azerbaijani Presidency says it is the result of a consultation that stretched into the early hours of the morning - and offers a ‘balance and streamlined’ way forward. According to their statement:

“Throughout the year, the COP29 Presidency has been pushing for a fair and ambitious new climate finance goal, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing country Parties.

“We conducted an extensive and inclusive consultation process that extended into the early hours of the morning.

“We gave all groups the opportunity to react to the package of texts we released yesterday morning and we thank them for their constructive engagement.

“Taking into account the views expressed during the consultations, and what we heard from Parties at yesterday’s Qurultay, we have now published updated texts.

“These texts form a balanced and streamlined package for COP29. The COP29 Presidency urges Parties to study this text intently, to pave the way towards consensus, on the few options remaining.”

“We will further engage with Parties to collectively agree final adjustments to the few outstanding yet important issues,” the statement continues.

“We will continue to work hard, inclusively and transparently, to press all sides for the highest ambition outcome possible.

• New climate finance text has dropped
• What's in the new climate finance draft?
• 'Transitioning away from fossil fuels'
• Small island states say proposal shows 'contempt'

The latest draft of the climate finance text "decides" a core amount of $250 billion a year by 2035 for developing countries. It's a figure that developing countries have previously pushed back on and less than the core of $440 to $900 billion they were aiming for.

While the $250 billion a year target is essentially an extension of the previous annual $100 billion goal set in 2009 the wording here is also a little different. Previously developed countries were compelled to pay by 2020 (a target which they missed). Now they are being asked rather more vaguely to "take the lead".

The implication is that developed countries will meet the bulk of this target. But it does open the door to developing countries that may want to contribute to being part of this goal - and possibly even go beyond it.

It also "calls for" a bigger target of at least $1.3 trillion a year as part of a wider goal that includes finance from "all public and private sources". There are layers to this climate finance onion and this figure could include a much broader range of potential sources. Finance from multilateral development banks, for example, could make up a big chunk.

The text also "invites" developing countries to make additional contributions. The EU has repeatedly pushed to widen the pool of contributions for climate finance and said earlier this week that it would happily accept voluntary contributions.

Though loss and damage is mentioned a few times throughout the text, there is no inclusion of this funding in the new climate finance goal draft.

The goal of "by 2035" is also likely to land poorly with developing nations who had been hoping for a more rapid response. There is a provision to take stock of how progress is going before we reach 2035. This would see countries get together as they are doing now to deliberate the targets.

Remember this is still a draft text so we'll have to wait and see what countries think of it.

We finally have new draft texts for countries to grapple with, just published here.

At five pages long, the finance text has been significantly streamlined. We'll be bringing you analysis and reaction shortly, so stay tuned. 

With mere hours left before COP29 talks tip into overtime, Mohamed Adow, director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, has called this “one of the most poorly led and chaotic COP meetings ever”.

"COP summits are a delicate and precious thing, they require skill and determination in order to progress global climate action and land a successful deal.  

"We only have a matter of hours remaining to save this COP from being remembered as a failure for the climate and embarrassment for the rich world.  

"We need Mukhtar Babayev to get his act together, push countries to actually deliver a global finance goal that will keep alive the target of limiting global heating to 1.5C and not let the world’s developed countries wriggle out of paying their climate debt.

"The way this COP is going, developing countries are going to have to prepare themselves to walk away from COP29 if the package on the table doesn’t improve. It can and must improve, otherwise no deal. 

"There’s no point accepting a bad deal if it buries climate ambition. Without a strong deal that will provide the trillions needed to tackle the climate crisis, Baku will be known as a global disappointment.

"No deal is better than a bad deal. Poor countries don’t need to be held hostage in Baku. If rich countries fail to deliver what they owe in climate finance, then they should be forced to come back next year in Brazil with a better plan."

Tension is rising around the media centre in the COP29 venue as the provisional noon deadline for the climate finance proposal from the Azerbaijani presidency fades into the distance. 

A couple of sources have suggested we may now have to wait until dinner time or later. In the meantime, activists are keeping up the pressure, with an impromptu demo in a nearby corner of the vast complex around Baku Stadium.

Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe director Chiara Martinelli tells Euronews: “We will continue to fight for a good deal until the last minute. Developing countries deserve better than to be locked into a bad outcome.

"If the new text does not have significant improvements and ambitious enough quantum, developed countries need to get back to the negotiation rooms and ramp up their commitments. And if that does not result in anything, no deal might be a better outcome than accepting a bad deal.”

For the uninitiated, the “quantum” is what we in Baku are calling the headline annual finance goal.

Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister and lead COP29 negotiator told Euronews on Wednesday that any deal based on consensus would by definition be a good one.

It’s another filler post, we’re afraid, with the new texts - including the all-important one on finance - now an hour overdue.

Earlier this week, Associated Press journalists brought the board game Daybreak along to the summit centre in Baku.

Experts from three countries were asked to play the game, which involves players working together to curb climate change, caused by the release of greenhouse gas emissions when fuels like gas and coal are burned. The goal of the game is to prevent the world from getting too hot or overrun by devastating extreme weather events. 

It’s really hard.

There is (of course) a political message to the game, co-designer Matt Leacock explained. Winning, or stopping the world from runaway temperature rise, is doable but difficult and requires dramatic early action, he said. That's what experts say is required in real life.



Borami Seo, Solutions for Our Climate, left, and Yi Hyun Kim, Solutions for Our Climate, play Daybreak at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, 19 November. Photo: AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel

Ed King, a seasoned tracker of international climate diplomacy at the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC), has been keeping COP-watchers briefed.

He shared these strongly-worded comments from delegates this morning:

Asked what climate funding he could accept, Juan Carlos Monterrey, Panama's climate envoy replied:

“That's like asking how many dead people we’re willing to have in our countries.” 

Colombian minister Susana Muhamad said a plan from a bloc of around 80 most vulnerable countries had been put to Global North countries, ”but they keep going in circles in their geopolitical games”. 

From former Irish president and UN envoy Mary Robinson: “The science is clear, and neither Riyadh nor any other country can bend the laws of physics. Blocking talks and backsliding raises the risks of extreme floods and brutal heatwaves. This COP must cement the transition to clean energy.”

As we explored in the blog yesterday, there has been much frustration at Saudi Arabia obstructing negotiations on cutting fossil fuel use at COP29.

Meanwhile Xia Yingxian, director of the China’s Ministry of Environment and Ecology department of climate change, said: “Developed countries proposing a quantitative post-2025 funding target well over $100 billion per year is the master switch and golden key to unlocking the success of the Baku COP.”

As we wait for the revised texts to drop, a look ahead to next year...

Brazil is the host of COP30, and there's high hopes for the first climate summit to be held in the Amazon.

But when tens of thousands of participants arrive in the host city of Belem next year, they won’t find idyllic rainforest, lush vegetation or clean rivers, AP reports.

Who is hosting the COP30 UN climate talks?

Due to a lack of hotels in host city Belem, delegates will have to sleep on cruise ships.…

There’s a panoply of topics up for discussion at the 29th conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but the core test of this one – dubbed the ‘finance COP’ – is whether or not host Azerbaijan can broker a deal on climate finance.

Their first formal proposal, released shortly after 7am yesterday, sank like a lead balloon – deemed unacceptable by the EU and torn to shreds by developing countries in an afternoon session that ran to over three hours.

The problem is that developing countries, in which group China counts itself, are demanding rich nations channel up to $1.3 trillion a year – a significant chunk of it in direct grants – into their economies so they can afford to transition away from fossil fuels, as agreed at COP28 last year in Dubai, and adapt to cope with the worsening impacts of climate breakdown.

For their part, the developed world – including the EU – have so far given no indication of how much they might be willing to pay. Ministers and diplomats talk of first settling the structure of the so-called new collective quantified goal (NCQG) – how much is public money, how much from development banks, how much is ‘mobilised’ private finance, what role will carbon credits play…

Add to that a side issue of Saudi Arabia and other countries backtracking on last year’s fossil fuel transition pledge – which was deemed a landmark even without a deadline after nearly three decades of negotiations where the elephant in the room was more or less taboo.

"The Arab Group will not accept any text that targets any specific sectors, including fossil fuel," the Gulf state said during yesterday’s debate.

Nikki Reisch, director of the climate and energy programme at the Center for International Environmental Law summed up the state of play this morning: the negotiations seems to be “quite off track” and a successful conclusion still far off. “We are seeing at this COP the chasms between positions of different states come to the fore.”

Azerbaijan’s next go at a compromise deal is expected any minute. Stand by for more.

Euronews reporter Robert Hodgson found a subdued mood on the way into the last (planned) day of talks.

The Azerbaijani presidency has indicated an updated text of the global finance goal and other key issues will be released around noon Baku time (so a convenient 9am for most of western Europe).

A final text should follow, but very likely not until after the 6pm scheduled close of the summit. A lovely day for a deal – but most people here are expecting the talks to drag on into Saturday.

Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the COP29 climate summit. Can it deliver a fair finance deal? Time will tell very soon.

You can check out what you missed yesterday - when countries aired their feelings about the first draft texts - here:

COP29: Negotiations come down to the wire on new climate finance goal

Euronews Green brings you the latest updates from the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.…