As the Wu-Tang Clan once elegantly deduced, “Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M.” That mantra is also the theme of the UN’s COP29 climate summit, which kicked off yesterday as global ministers and climate experts touched down in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Driving the news: As rich nations try to agree on a new funding model and target to help poorer nations combat climate change, some countries are arguing for a pledge of over US$1 trillion a year. Per the Paris Agreement, a new target must be decided on by next year.
- Some OECD nations initially pledged $100 billion a year by 2020, acknowledging poorer nations were disproportionately affected by emissions. They met this goal in 2022.
- To help foot the potentially enormous new target, paying nations want to use COP29 to expand the contributor base to include rich non-OECD mega-polluters, like China.
In Canada: Canada has been one of the key leaders of the funding initiative and promised in 2021 to double its international climate financing pledge to $5.3 billion over five years.
Why it matters: With some leaders skipping out on the summit and many poorer nations losing faith in the system, failure to reach a new funding model could be a death knell for such international climate pacts.—QH