COP29 appeared set for a last-ditch deal as key negotiators agreed to a broad blueprint on climate finance, pulling the United Nations talks in Azerbaijan back from the brink of collapse.
After a chaotic day, when officials often appeared despairing of making progress, delegates appear ready to coalesce around a deal that would unlock hundreds of billions of dollars for poorer nations. Developed countries have made any agreement contingent on also reaffirming last year’s outcome in Dubai that included a vow to transition away from fossil fuels.
Under the compromise, rich nations would commit to $300 billion a year, triple the current annual pledge that’s due to expire in 2025, people familiar with the matter said.
That’s a jump from the $250 billion offered on Friday, as the Azerbaijan presidency looked to bridge divisions between developed and developing nations.
To be sure, the outline of the deal, hashed out during a more than hour-long meeting in the presidency’s office late Saturday with key countries and negotiating blocs does not yet have buy-in from all factions at the Baku talks. The negotiators in the room included representatives from the UK, US, European Union and the Alliance of Small Island States.
Negotiators have made “a step forward,” but “it is way too early” to be certain, EU’s climate chief Wopke Hoekstra told reporters.
The UN climate talks are built on consensus, forcing officials to find common ground among nearly 200 nations.
”We had a fruitful conversation,” Hoekstra said. “These things are always about content, about process and in many ways also about empathy.” However, he added: “It will take 195 to tango.“
The talks were teetering on the brink of collapse on Saturday as delegations prepared to fly home and countries remained at loggerheads over issues ranging from finance to emissions. Fraught negotiations over the past two weeks in Baku have often spilled into the open as different sides tried to bridge deep divisions.
But on Saturday evening the mood had lifted. Asked if there was a deal following the closed-door session, Thoriq Ibrahim, the Maldives minister of climate change, environment and energy, flashed a smile. “I think so,” he said.
A draft of the final deal still needs to published and agreed in a closing session, a forum for potentially more changes and airing of grievances.
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