The “Roadmap to Belém” plan seeks $1.3 trillion in annual climate finance, supported by redirected fossil fuel subsidies and new levies on high-emission industries such as shipping and aviation
UN climate talks at COP29 have reached a critical standstill as negotiators clash over climate finance, with developing nations demanding that wealthier countries honor their long-promised funding commitments.
A revised finance text from the COP29 Presidency, expected by midday, may help bridge the rift, but frustration is mounting among countries most vulnerable to climate impacts.
A coalition representing 80 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, including the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), African Group of Negotiators (AGN), and the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC), has submitted a sweeping proposal for public, grant-based funding.
The “Roadmap to Belém” plan seeks $1.3 trillion in annual climate finance, supported by redirected fossil fuel subsidies and new levies on high-emission industries such as shipping and aviation.
“This is not charity; it’s climate justice,” said Bangladeshi advocate Sohanur Rahman, a Bangladeshi youth climate advocate and Executive Coordinator of the YouthNet Global. “Grants, not loans, are what’s needed to tackle this crisis.”
Rahman’s comments underscored the growing resistance to private finance mechanisms, which, he argued, burden developing nations with unsustainable debt. Rahman pointed to the underwhelming performance of the Adaptation Fund at COP29, which set a target of $300 million but raised only $130 million.
“This is peanuts. Less adaptation now means more loss and damage later,” he warned, calling on wealthy countries to commit far more substantial funding.
Meanwhile, high-income countries have been criticized for what developing nations see as a failure to adequately address their financial commitments. Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad voiced deep disappointment, calling for wealthier nations to “stop playing geopolitics with people’s lives.”
Her frustration echoed across the Global South, where leaders view COP29 as a critical moment for achieving long-overdue climate equity.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an advisor to Bangladesh’s interim government, questioned the alignment between COP29’s draft text and science-based climate solutions. “Why focus on market-based carbon trading when established, science-backed solutions are readily available?” she asked.
Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and Water Resources Advisor Rizwana expressed concern over inconsistent language in the finance discussions and urged negotiators to focus on grant-based funding.
Developing nations’ proposal for a post-2025 finance target that would exceed $100 billion annually has garnered support from major economies like China. However, the measure faces resistance from fossil-fuel-producing countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, which opposes finance commitments tied to phasing out fossil fuels.
As COP29 enters its final day on Friday, Rizwana noted a troubling trend, emphasizing that recent years have seen slow movement toward actionable results.
“Countries must act on science-based targets if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences,” she said, hinting at a possible shift in developed countries’ stance on climate finance if the climate impacts currently experienced by vulnerable nations become more widespread.
With the estimated need for climate finance projected to reach $6 trillion by 2030, leaders from the coalition of vulnerable nations are calling for unprecedented action. Without significant public finance commitments, they argue, COP29 may fall short of its mandate to secure meaningful climate justice.
As negotiations intensify, all eyes are on the COP29 Presidency to broker a compromise that balances ambition with tangible action. The stakes are high, and only a breakthrough on finance could prevent COP29 from becoming yet another missed opportunity in the fight against climate change.
