Cop29 on the verge of collapse as small countries withdraw from dispute over money

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and the Least Developed Countries (LDC) bloc declined to meet but remained at the conference.

An AOSIS spokesman said: “We are still here. But for negotiations to be productive, they must be inclusive.”

No specific figure was proposed in Thursday’s first draft of the agreement. In the climate finance section of the document, an “X” was included instead, sparking anger among delegates from poorer countries.

On Friday, a new draft agreement outlined a climate finance proposal of $250 billion a year to be implemented by 2035.

The new goal was called “completely inadequate” by the chairman of the African Negotiating Group, Ali Mohamed.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is among groups at the conference lobbying for a much higher figure of $1 trillion.

Stephen Cornelius, WWF Global’s deputy climate chief, said: “The amount is too small and rich countries are not even committing to providing the entire amount.”

Annalena Bärbock, Germany’s foreign minister, described the current impasse as “a geopolitical game between several fossil fuel states.”

“We will not allow the most vulnerable countries, especially small island states, to be robbed of the few rich fossil fuel emitters that unfortunately currently have the support of the president,” she said.

During the previous NCQG, held in 2009, rich countries agreed to provide $100 billion a year to poor countries. The $100 billion goal was reached for the first time in 2022.