World leaders argue over who’ll pay the planet’s eco bill as COP29 heats up
Temp check… The climate’s heatin’ up, and so are talks between the leaders from nearly 200 countries this week in Azerbaijan for the COP29 climate summit. The main topic: who’s going to pay for climate change? Wealthy nations in 2009 agreed to cough up $100B/year to less-wealthy nations to fund climate-related projects (mainly clean energy). Payments started in 2020, but only hit the $100B/year goal in 2022. With the pledge expiring this year, world leaders at COP29 are trying to forge a new agreement with a funding target of more than $1T/year.
Hitting a trillion could hinge on private-sector (like: JPMorgan, Barclays) participation and whether a Trump-led US contributes.
Money doesn’t grow on trees… The US contributed ~$10B to global climate goals last year, a third of what the UK spent. Now, COP29 attendees are concerned that Trump could cut climate funding altogether. He’s widely expected to again withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, the global pact to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. That agreement calls for developed nations to provide large-scale financial aid to less-wealthy nations. Now some leaders at COP29 have hesitated to confirm their countries’ contributions until they know the US’s plans.
Finger-pointing: World leaders are also putting pressure on China and Gulf nations to start chipping in. Beijing says it’s not on the same footing as established economies like the UK and US.
The world’s not keeping up… and the price tag to tackle the climate crisis keeps surging. The $1T/year climate spend that some COP29 attendees hope for would still fall short of what some experts say is required, with new research landing on a $6T/year price tag.