The future of global climate finance hangs in the balance

Final negotiations at Cop29 will decide not only the future of climate finance, but the entire concept of a global, consensus-based approach to the climate emergency

Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the Cop29 UN Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. Picture: AP Photo

 The Cop29 talks in Baku are reaching their climax with negotiators working around the clock to reach an agreement on global climate finance. This phase of Cop is sometimes called the “valley of death”, either negotiators achieve a rough consensus now that can be finessed in a final agreement, or we face a chaotic collapse of the world’s most important climate talks.

The job of the Cop negotiators over the next few days (officially the conference ends on Friday but it is likely to run into the weekend) is to agree who pays for global climate financing and how much, or in UN jargon, a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).