Landmark $300bn for poorer nations in COP29 climate deal

The talks at the UN climate summit COP29 in Azerbaijan ran 33 hours late, and came within inches of collapse.

The head of the UN climate body, Simon Stiell, said it had “been a difficult journey, but we've delivered a deal.”

But the talks failed to build on an agreement passed last year calling for nations to “transition away from fossil fuels”.

Developing nations, as well as countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change, dramatically walked out of the talks on Saturday afternoon.

“I am not exaggerating when I say our islands are sinking! How can you expect us to go back to the women, men, and children of our countries with a poor deal?” said the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, Cedric Schuster.

But at 03:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday), and after some changes to the agreement, nations finally passed the deal. It was met with cheers and applause, but a furious speech from India showed that intense frustration remained.

“We cannot accept it… the proposed goal will not solve anything for us. [It is] not conducive to climate action that is necessary to the survival of our country,” Leela Nandan told the conference, calling the sum too small.

Then nations including Switzerland, Maldives, Canada and Australia protested that the language about reducing global use of fossil fuels was too weak.

Instead, that decision was postponed until the next climate talks in 2025.

This promise of more money is a recognition that poorer nations bear a disproportionate burden from climate change, but also have historically contributed the least to the climate crisis.

The newly-promised money is expected to come from government grants and the private sector - banks and businesses - and should help countries move away from fossil fuel power to using renewable energy.

There was also a commitment to tripling the money that goes towards preparing countries for climate change. Historically, only 40% of the funding available for climate change has gone towards this.

As well as the promise of $300bn (£238bn), nations agreed that $1.3tn is needed by 2035 to also help prevent climate change.

This year - which is now "virtually certain" to be the warmest on record - has been punctuated by intense heatwaves and deadly storms. BBC