COP29 Anticlimax and Climate Finance Challenges

• COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev delivered two speeches at the end of the climate talks, one focused on a deal and the other on the possibility of a summit-collapsing impasse.

• Babayev successfully passed the $300 billion finance plan to help developing nations cope with the rising costs of global warming over the next decade.

• Despite criticisms, Babayev praised the agreement as a breakthrough, despite many slammed it as inadequate.

• The deal was influenced by concerns of a looming U.S. withdrawal from global climate cooperation, geopolitical turmoil, and isolationist politics.

• The agreement to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 would theoretically triple rich countries’ previous commitments, which was reached in full only in 2022 and expires in 2025.

• The unwillingness of wealthy countries to offer more money and pressure to conclude even a weak deal has become a major source of frustration.

• Climate advocates believe the deal is better than an outright impasse, but rifts exposed by the conference and loss of trust among poorer countries will pose a problem for Brazil as it prepares for COP30.