Wealthy countries yesterday agreed to triple the amount of aid they pay to developing nations to tackle climate change in a last-minute deal at the Cop29 summit.
Developed countries including the UK, US and EU nations agreed to pay $300billion (£239billion) a year – up from the $100billion they pay now.
The sum was described by the United Nations as ‘an insurance policy for humanity’. But the action – which excludes the world’s biggest polluter China – was dismissed as ‘too little, too late’ by developing countries.
India branded it a ‘paltry sum’, as it falls well short of the $1.3trillion (£1.04trillion) that was pushed for.
China, the world’s second-biggest economy, presents a problem as it is not obliged to contribute. It was until recently a ‘developing’ country and is not yet among the ‘developed’ nations. So it falls between two stools and has merely been ‘invited’ to contribute.
Poorer countries say global warming was caused by wealthier Western countries who got rich from burning fossil fuels – and now developing nations are being told they cannot use oil, gas and coal to power their own economies.
The deal was struck at 2.40am local time yesterday, 33 hours after the UN climate talks were due to close on Friday. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called it a ‘critical 11th-hour deal at the 11th hour for the climate’.
But climate groups labelled the funding agreement, designed to help developing nations combat global warming and to modernise their economies, a ‘drop in the ocean’ of rising seawaters.
The UK is committed to paying £11.6billion towards climate finance between 2021 and 2026.
Sir Keir Starmer has refused to commit to how much more taxpayers will have to pay towards this sum, but said while attending the two-week summit in Azerbaijan: ‘I will be making the argument that the private sector ought to be paying into that.’
After the deal was announced at the Cop29 conference in Baku, he said: ‘It is not everything we or others wanted but [it] is a step forward for us all.
‘It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis.’
He said there is ‘much more work to do’ to prevent climate catastrophe.
‘We’ve pushed for ambition in Baku and have restored the UK back to a position of global climate leadership,’ Sir Keir added.
‘We will keep up the pace, working with other countries before the world meets again in Brazil for Cop30. Only by doing this can we keep future generations safe and reap the benefits of the clean energy revolution.’
US President Joe Biden said work remained to be done, but Cop29 had set an ‘ambitious international climate finance goal’.
‘While some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s under way in America and around the world, nobody can reverse it – nobody,’ he added.
The money can come from public funds such as governments, bodies such as the World Bank or private sources and be in the form of grants and loans.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said the agreement could be seen as ‘an insurance policy for humanity’.
He added: ‘It will help all countries to share in the huge benefits of bold climate action: more jobs, stronger growth, cheaper and cleaner energy for all. Like any insurance policy, it only works if the premiums are paid in full and on time.’