November 23, 2024 22:58November 24, 2024 07:27
What was decided?
Azerbaijan The world climate conference agreed to significantly increase climate aid to poorer countries. By 2035, annual inflows of at least US$1.3 trillion (currently around €1.25 trillion) are expected, of which US$300 billion will come mainly from industrialized countries. The funding is intended to help developing countries pay more for climate protection and adapt to the deadly consequences of global warming, such as more frequent droughts, storms and floods.
Azerbaijani COP29 negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev (left) talks with UN climate change chief Simon Stiell (back) and COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev (front).Image: trapezoid
How should this decision be evaluated?
The new amount represents a significant increase in funding for developing countries. So far, the typical industrialized country has raised as much as $100 billion in climate aid each year, accounting for only one-third of the new amount.
However, it is questionable whether this increase is sufficient. According to the United Nations Group of Independent Experts, annual foreign aid needs will be approximately US$1 trillion by 2030 and will even reach US$1.3 trillion by 2035.
What exactly does this mean for Switzerland?
Like all other countries, Switzerland has no specific payment obligations under the UN Climate Change Conference decision. Environment Ambassador Felix Wertli said the Federal Council will adopt a report in 2025 that will determine Switzerland's “fair” contribution. He emphasized that it's not just about direct payments of more money. It's also about raising capital.
In an interview with Swiss Radio before the deal was signed, Environment Minister Albert Rosti described the expectations of developing countries as “neither good nor evil”. Rosti said in an interview published on Friday that Switzerland had fulfilled its historical obligations and “contributes $700 million per year to climate protection, a proportion that exceeds the expectations of other countries”.
Environment Minister Albert Rosti.Image: trapezoid
How should payment be made?
Under the agreement, in order to raise $1.3 trillion a year, multilateral development banks should also significantly increase lending or forgive the debt of poor countries. Public and bank funds should also be used to leverage private investment on a large scale, which also counts as climate finance.
In addition, other donor countries should be encouraged to participate. The call is so broad that climate activists criticize that no one is specifically responsible for this part of the global goal.
How did Switzerland react?
The representative of Switzerland expressed satisfaction with the agreement. The head of the Swiss delegation later expressed that the meeting was successfully concluded. Environmental Ambassador Felix Wertli said in a telephone interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency that $300 billion was achievable and therefore triple the previous amount.
Felix Wertli, head of the Swiss delegation.Image: trapezoid
The head of the delegation was disappointed with the topic of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As Whatley said, the Swiss delegation also wants the conference to send a stronger message about commitment to the 1.5-degree climate goal. At the climate conference, Federal Councilor Rosti reiterated Switzerland's 1.5-degree climate target.
How did others react?
german foreign minister Annalena Berbock Mostly disappointed. “We know that today's decision alone will not be enough to meet all needs,” she told a plenary session in Baku. She said the $300 billion was just a starting point and assured that Germany would “deliver on its promises.” The decision does not require Germany to pay a specific amount more than any other country.
Annalena Belbok in Baku.Image: trapezoid
President of the United States Joe Biden He welcomed the World Climate Conference resolution as “historic” and declared before his designated successor, Donald Trump, took office that there was no hope of a return to the past in climate policy.
“No matter how many try to deny or delay the clean energy revolution underway in America and around the world, no one can reverse it — no one,” Biden said in a statement after the meeting in Azerbaijan.
Joe Biden is optimistic.Image: trapezoid
Biden said he expects the U.S. to continue fighting the climate crisis in the coming years — “through our states and cities, our businesses and our citizens, and supported by lasting legislation.” He did not include future governments on the list.
united nations secretary general Antonio Guterres Praise the World Climate Conference for its decision, but also demand that funds flow quickly. He demanded that commitments be fulfilled “fully and on time.” “Commitments must be turned into cash quickly.” Because many developing countries that are heavily indebted, suffering disasters and lagging behind in the renewable energy revolution are in desperate need of funds.
Antonio Guterres is now calling for concrete action.Image: trapezoid
Guterres once again pointed to the escalating climate crisis. “COP29 comes at the end of a brutal year – one marked by record temperatures and climate disaster, while emissions continue to rise.”
The Portuguese spoke of complex negotiations taking place in an uncertain and divided geopolitical landscape. The consensus reached at the Azerbaijan conference shows that multilateralism can find solutions to the most difficult problems. “I call on governments to see this agreement as a foundation and build on it.”
Guterres stressed that from an economic perspective, the end of the fossil fuel era is also inevitable. New national plans in 200 countries must now accelerate this change and help ensure it is delivered equitably. “The G20 countries as the largest emitters must take the lead,” he demanded.
Shortly after the Azerbaijani hosts hammered home the blow, it became clear that many countries were just gritting their teeth and agreeing so that at least they wouldn't break up without compromise: nigeria representative Describing 300 billion as a “joke” and “insult”. return indian representative Protested that they absolutely could not agree to it because the promise was too small. In fact, the criticism no longer has any impact and the decision still applies.
There are also environmental organizations WWF Switzerland Not satisfied. As the group's political director Manuel Graf said, the estimated $300 billion per year until 2035 is “completely insufficient.”
Graf criticized in a statement on Sunday evening that there was no discussion in Bern on the eve of the climate conference on how Switzerland could contribute its fair share to the new financial targets. WWF representatives demand that international climate finance in Switzerland require a separate dedicated tax, which would be levied on the polluter-pays principle if possible.
Plans to phase out fossil fuels have also made little progress. “Switzerland had advocated a clear road map, but was blocked in particular by gas and oil countries,” Graf was quoted as saying in the statement.
Why did it almost become a scandal?
At times, the World Climate Conference, which stretched for more than 30 hours, was in danger of failure. Hours before the end, the entire group of countries temporarily walked away from the talks, complaining about the chaotic conduct of the meeting. Organizers praised petro-state Azerbaijan, which generates 90% of its export revenue from oil and gas, for doing its best to be an “honest broker” for all parties despite facing “geopolitical headwinds.”
Until recently, the EU was concerned that resolutions from the last Dubai climate conference, such as those on hard-won oil, gas and coal transfers, might be lost in the Baku negotiations. The specific wording that Germany was hailing as “historic” now no longer exists – the decision was postponed until next year due to a lack of consensus.
(DAB/Sudan Development Authority/Department of Political Affairs)
