A new draft of a climate agreement has been presented at the UN's climate meeting COP29. According to the proposal, rich countries will provide 250 billion dollars annually by 2035 to help poorer countries with their climate transition.
This is the first time during the meeting, which began on November 11, that a draft presents a concrete sum, but it is also far below the 1,300 billion that poor countries have demanded.
The proposed goal of mobilizing 250 billion per year by 2035 is totally unacceptable and insufficient to deliver the Paris Agreement, says Ali Mohamed, chairman of the African Group's negotiating delegation to AFP.
Shameful, thought Tina Stege, who represents the Marshall Islands.
We only get sympathies and no real action from rich countries, she said.
"Much lower"
Ana Maria Vargas Falla, who researches legitimacy and justice related to climate legislation, has been on site in Baku.
Now there is a sum on the table, but many of those I've spoken to from developing countries are disappointed. It's so much lower than what is considered necessary. There is also a lack of writings on who should participate and contribute, she says.
Even from the civil society side, the proposal is a disappointment.
"This is a shameful leadership failure", says Oxfam's climate chief Safa' Al Jayoussi in a comment, and adds that rich countries are boycotting climate justice by refusing to pay.
"Insufficient" and "embarrassing"
At the same time, Al Jayoussi notes that it is better than no agreement, which environmental activist Greenpeace's delegation chief Jasper Inventor agrees with:
"Insufficient, detached from the reality of climate impact and scandalously below the needs of developing countries", he says according to AFP.
Embarrassing, says Laurie van der Burg at Oil Change International, who believes that the proposal allows rich emitters to dodge responsibility.
"It's like governments handing over the keys to the fire truck to the arsonists", she says according to The Guardian.
The reactions from the rich countries were more positive, where envoys described the proposal as "a start" and "something to work on".
We're not quite landing yet, but at least we're not still up in the air without a map, said Germany's climate envoy Jennifer Morgan to The Guardian.
