Pay It Up, UN tells the Rich
No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work to do, said Simon Stiell Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov 24 (The CONNECT) – Likening the climate finance to insurance premium, a top UN official has called upon the rich nations to step up their contributions and pay.
This statement that comes in the wake of the poor nations’ demand for creating a $1.3 trillion climate finance pool assumes significance in view of the fact that the group of developed countries agreed for a mere $300 billion contributions. This has failed to meet the developing countries expectations as the UN sponsored COP29 ended in a stalemate.
The new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country, said Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change speaking at COP29.
“But like any insurance policy – it only works – if premiums are paid in full, and on time. Promises must be kept, to protect billions of lives,†he observed.
Stiell also acknowledged that the agreement reached in Baku did not meet all Parties' expectations, and substantially more work is still needed next year on several crucial issues.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work to do,†said Stiell. “The many other issues we need to progress may not be headlines but they are lifelines for billions of people. So this is no time for victory laps, we need to set our sights and redouble our efforts on the road to Belem.â€
The finance agreement at COP29 comes as stronger national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs) become due from all countries next year.
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