As discussions at the United Nations’ COP 29 gain greater momentum at Baku, Azerbaijan, experts at the forum have projected that low income countries will need at least $1 trillion yearly by the end of the decade to move to greener energy and protect against extreme weather.
According to Reuters, in a news report sponsored by Ecolab, a global sustainability leader offering water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions provider, over the past four days of the forum, climate financing has dominated discussions amid a diplomatic dispute between France and the host country, Azerbaijan.
Before now, experts had set a goal of $100 billion per year for climate investments in the affected countries, which expires in 2025, was met two years late in 2022.
The OECD confirmed earlier this year that although much of it was in the form of loans rather than grants, something recipient countries say needs to change.
A report from the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance at the COP29 forum indicated that the target annual figure would need to rise to $1.3 trillion a year by 2035, or potentially more if countries drag their feet now.
Some negotiators maintained that the latest text on finance was too long to work with, and they were waiting for a slimmed-down version before talks to hammer out a deal could begin.
Analysts at the conference believe that any deal is likely to be hard fought given the reluctance of many Western governments to give more except countries such as China agree to join them.
However, a push to raise fresh money by taxing polluting sectors such as aviation, fossil fuels and shipping, or financial transactions, received a boost as more countries’ leaders and representatives agreed to consider it, but any agreement is unlikely this time around.
