“This document [the NCQG resolution] is nothing more than an optical illusion. This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document,” stated India’s negotiator Chandni Raina, at the 29th United Nations (UN) Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP29). Nigeria’s delegation also referred to the resolution as a “joke”.
At COP29, dubbed the ‘Finance COP,’ climate finance was to take centre stage, primarily to settle on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) climate fund for mitigation and adaptation. Given the widening gaps between green transition targets, adaptation needs, and available financing, developing countries demanded US$1 trillion be mobilised annually. However, the adopted resolution stipulates that only US$300 billion will be generated annually by developed nations till 2035.
The principal need from this NCQG was to provide adequate, clearly assigned funding to fight climate change—unfortunately, the agreed-upon funds are ludicrously below the target. Worse still, there is nothing mentioned on the specific adaptations to the irreparable impacts of climate change, and on the loss and damage caused.
Given the widening gaps between green transition targets, adaptation needs, and available financing, developing countries demanded US$1 trillion be mobilised annually.
COP29 is a clear indication that developed nations do not intend to honour the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” set by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The developing world, bearing the brunt of climate change, cannot rely on developed nations to shoulder the responsibility of fixing the damage wrought by their historical and ongoing emissions. That such an NCQG was adopted underscores the limits to global cooperation when it comes to climate change finance. This extremely underfunded pot must pay for the adaptation to climate change, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and for the irreversible loss and damage caused by the impacts of climate change, which affect mainly the less developed nations that did the least to cause this harm.
