Climate Finance Dispute at COP29 UN Climate Summit

• The 29th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP) on global warming is set to end on November 22, but deliberations are expected to continue beyond this deadline.

• Developing countries have stated that at least a trillion dollars per year from 2025-35 would be necessary to meet emission targets.

• The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance refers to money given to developing countries by developed countries to help them transition away from the continued use of fossil fuels and curb greenhouse gas emissions.

• Developed countries, led by the European Union, claim these demands are unreasonablely high and aim to raise climate finance to $1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

• The NCQG should reflect contributions by developed countries based on their historical contribution to existing carbon concentrations in the atmosphere and their per capita GDP.

• Despite the agreement, developed countries have only a set goal of $250-300 billion by 2035 per year.

• China has petitioned the Presidency of COP29 to discuss “climate-change related unilateral restrictive trade measures” at the conference.

• An agreement on carbon markets to be supervised by the UN was made on the first day of the conference, allowing countries to trade carbon credits among themselves.

• India has been discussing bilateral deals to trade carbon with several countries, and an agreement such as the one in Baku could be a catalyst for activating India’s own carbon-trading market.