COP29 gets boost from Rio as G20 leaders back scaling up climate finance from ‘billions to trillions’

As intense round-the-clock COP29 climate talks enter their final stretch in Baku, delegates on Wednesday are eagerly awaiting updates on the progress of negotiations regarding a new climate finance target. Meanwhile, high-level discussions also continued, with a focus on key issues such as urbanization, transport, and tourism.

“The world urgently needs a clear and unambiguous commitment to the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Agreement from all G20 nations”, António Guterres said on Sunday after the Group failed to agree on the wording of key climate change commitments during their last’s week Ministerial Meeting on Environment, Climate and Energy.

UN climate negotiations wrapped up early on Sunday morning in Baku, with wealthy countries pledging to invest at least $300 billion a year to the global fight against climate change. Developing countries who had been seeking more than $1 trillion in support called the deal an “insult” and said that it failed to provide the critical support they needed to effectively tackle the climate crisis.