“People are fed up and losing faith,” Jasper Inventor, head of the Greenpeace delegation to the COP29 talks, said in a statement.
He described the agreement for rich countries to provide US$300 billion to poor countries for their climate needs as, “grossly inadequate”, adding that he and others would look to COP30, next year’s conference in Belem, Brazil, to improve the agreement.
“We will not give up,” he added.
Greenpeace climate political expert Tracy Carty said the funding goal does not provide any guarantee of loans or private financing that will cover the cost, but rather, “grant-based public financing that is much needed by developing countries.”
He and others at Greenpeace are calling for the fossil fuel industry to pay.
Fred Njehu, pan-African political strategist for Greenpeace Africa, issued some of the harshest reactions by describing the agreement as, “climate colonialism.”
He compared the US$1.3 billion to offering someone, “a pipette to fill the ocean.”
“It’s like they admit that someone needs a reservoir full of water to survive, then give them an eye dropper and say, ‘Good luck!'”
Still, there was little optimism among the Greenpeace delegation at the convention.
Maarten de Zeeuw, who campaigns for climate and energy issues from Greenpeace Netherlands, said COP29 agreed to develop an action plan to increase funding at next year’s meeting.
“This must be an action plan to ensure polluting countries pay,” he said.
Meanwhile, some countries are also angry because of the compromise reached early Sunday morning at the COP29 summit.
Nigeria’s representative described the request for US$300 billion annually from industrialized nations until 2035 as a ‘joke’ and even an ‘insult’.
The Indian representative objected stating that they could not agree to the decision because the commitments made were too low.
The criticism cannot change the agreement that is now valid. However, the comments will likely be entered into the record.
At the UN World Climate Conference, host Azerbaijan quickly ratified the important text, leaving some countries feeling left out and neglected.
A representative of Bolivia expressed his disappointment that developing countries had to face the difficulties of the climate crisis alone. He described this as an era in which every person (nation) will only be selfish. He said industrialized nations have historical responsibility for global warming, and climate aid by them is therefore not an act of charity, “but a legal obligation”.
However, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, defended the decision. He promised by stating, “a new era in climate finance is beginning” and the European Union will continue to play a leading role, the Dutchman said. – Named
