The world adopted a bitterly negotiated climate deal on Sunday that committed the historically polluter-rich $300 billion annually to poor and vulnerable nations demanding much more to combat the global warming crisis.
After two long weeks of chaotic negotiations and sleepless nights, nearly 200 nations rallied against the contentious financial treaty in the early hours of the morning under a sports stadium in Azerbaijan.
Nations struggled to reconcile long-standing divisions over climate finance. The sleep-deprived diplomats, huddled in anxious groups, were still revising the last sentence of the plenary session before passing the agreement.
At some points, the talks appeared on the brink of collapse, with developing nations threatening to walk out of the meetings unless rich nations coughed up more money.
In the end – despite repeating that no deal is better than a bad deal – they did not put it on the road to an agreement, even though it has been very far from what they want.
The latest agreement commits developed nations to pay at least $300 billion by 2035 to help developed countries green their economies and prepare for the worst disasters.
That’s more than $100 billion provided by wealthy nations under an expiring pledge, and up from the $250 billion proposed in Friday’s draft.
The offer was considered offensively low by developing countries, which have called for at least $500 billion to build resilience against climate change and reduce emissions.
Some countries have accused Azerbaijan, an authoritarian oil and gas exporter, of lacking the experience and will to rise to the occasion as the planet again sets record temperatures and faces rising deadly disasters.
Wealthy countries and small island nations have also expressed concern over Saudi Arabia’s efforts to curtail calls to phase out fossil fuels at last year’s summit.
The United States and the EU have sought to include newly rich economies such as China—the world’s largest emitters.
The latest draft encouraged developing countries to make voluntary contributions, reflecting no change for China, which already pays climate finance on its own terms.
Rich nations said it was politically unrealistic to wait any longer for direct government funding.
Donald Trump, a skeptic of both climate change and foreign aid, returned to the White House in January and many other Western countries have seen right-wing backlash against the green agenda.
The agreement sets a higher overall target of $1.3 trillion a year to fight climate change and disasters, but most of it would come from private sources.
