COP29: Deal to raise $300bn a year by 2035 for poorer countries is hailed and slated
BMJ 2024; 387 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2651 (Published 26 November 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;387:q2651
Baku’s COP29 climate talks ended on 24 November with a finance deal that fell far short of some countries’ expectations, while others hailed it as a success.
After two weeks of intense—and often fraught—negotiations in the Azerbaijani capital, developed nations have agreed to raise at least $300bn (£238bn; €286bn) a year for low and middle income countries by 2035. This is to help them phase out fossil fuels and adapt to climate change.
The agreement is a step up from the previous target, set in 2009 at COP15, of $100bn a year. But it falls short of what economists say is needed and the expectations of nations most at risk in the climate emergency. This ranges from $1.3tn to $7tn.
The agreement also calls on countries to work together to come up with a broader target of $1.3tn. But much of this is likely to come in private sector investment, with an unspecified amount also coming from potential new levies, such as taxes on fossil fuels, frequent flyers, and shipping.
The agreement was hailed as “historic” by US president Joe Biden, while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen described it as a “new era for climate cooperation and finance.”
But the financing came in for strong criticism by many developing countries, climate campaigners, and non-governmental organisations. India called the cash “a paltry sum,” while Greenpeace said it was “way too little too late.” The think tank Power Shift Africa said the rich world had “staged a great escape.”
Leading voices, including former secretary general of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and climate scientist Johan Rockström, questioned the purpose of the talks. “This lethargic progress is at odds with climate science and real world climate damage and risks,” they wrote in 2023. “We need a shift from negotiation to implementation,” they reiterated this year.1
More focus on health
The talks included a pledge to better integrate health into future conferences, an initiative begun in 2021 and gaining momentum.2
A World Health Organization report3 launched for the talks states, “The climate crisis is a health crisis, which makes prioritising health and wellbeing in climate action not only a moral and legal imperative, but a strategic opportunity to unlock transformative health benefits.”
According to the report, just five interventions—including heat health warning systems, clean household energy, and efficient pricing of fossil fuels—would save almost two million lives a year.
Amr Awad, medical advocacy adviser for Médecins Sans Frontières Geneva, welcomed the move to position health centre stage, but expressed concern that there was not enough money to change things on the ground. He told The BMJ, “With the current weak financial commitments in COP, countries most affected by climate change—like Chad, Bangladesh, and Madagascar—will face mounting health crises exacerbated by recurring climate events leaving the most vulnerable communities grappling with malnutrition, cholera, and vector borne diseases.”
Carbon trading deal
After years of deadlock, the talks also finalised a plan for carbon trading. This could provide a way for developing countries to raise climate finance by selling carbon credits to high polluting companies and other countries wanting to offset their emissions.
COP stands for Conference of the Parties—the parties being countries that agreed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Around 200 nations signed this agreement in 1992 and meet every year to negotiate ways to tackle climate change. In a landmark COP in Paris in 2015, the world agreed to keep long term average temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, after several countries, including low lying island states, said that anything greater would spell disaster for them.
Scientists now say it’s unlikely this target is achievable and 2024 is set to be the first whole year the world exceeds the 1.5°C threshold.
The UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050, with the aim of limiting global warming and climate change. This means that total greenhouse gas emissions are equal to the emissions removed from the atmosphere. As part of this, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced an ambitious new commitment in Baku to cut UK emissions by 81% by 2035, compared with 1990 levels.