COP29: UN Chief calls for climate justice amidst anxieties over new finance targets

Mr Guterres said there is a need for a major push to get discussions over the finishing line to deliver an ambitious and balanced package on all pending issues, with a new finance goal at its heart.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Thursday, urged world leaders to instruct their ministers and negotiators to secure a new ambitious climate finance goal in Baku.

The UN official made the call on Thursday while addressing journalists at the ongoing COP29 venue in Azerbaijan.

“I urged G20 leaders to instruct their ministers and negotiators to secure a new ambitious climate finance goal at COP29. And I heard leader after leader stress the importance of concrete success,” Mr Guterres said.

The call by the UN boss came a few hours after the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) published a fresh text proposal for the ongoing climate change negotiation.

The new text embodies funding options and how much money wealthy countries should provide poorer nations to help them address climate change impacts as enshrined in Parties Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) documents submitted to the UNFCCC as mandated by the 2015 Paris Agreement.

However, climate change experts and delegations at the summit have criticised the text due to significant disparities with regard to the funding demands of the developing countries (Global South).

In his remarks, Mr Guterres said there is a need for a major push to get discussions over the finishing line to deliver an ambitious and balanced package on all pending issues, with a new finance goal at its heart.

“Failure is not an option. It might jeopardise both near-term action, and ambition in the preparation of the new national climate action plans, with potential devastating impacts as irreversible tipping points are getting closer,” he said.

Read the UN Chief’s full statement below

I have just returned from the G20 Summit in Rio. COP29 was very much on the agenda. I urged G20 leaders to instruct their ministers and negotiators to secure a new ambitious climate finance goal at COP29. And I heard leader after leader stress the importance of concrete success.

Delegations, and the COP Presidency, are working hard to find common ground. But as I said in my opening remarks here, the clock is ticking.

COP29 is now down to the wire. I sense an appetite for agreement. Areas of convergence are coming into focus. But differences remain.

We need a major push to get discussions over the finishing line. To deliver an ambitious and balanced package on all pending issues, with a new finance goal at its heart.

Failure is not an option. It might jeopardise both near-term action, and ambition in the preparation of the new national climate action plans, with potential devastating impacts as irreversible tipping points are getting closer.

It would inevitably make the success of COP30 in Brazil more difficult. I repeat, what we need is clear: Agreement on an ambitious new climate finance goal in Baku. Through its different components, that goal must mobilise the finance developing countries need.

A surge in finance is essential:

To ensure all parties can deliver new national plans aligned with 1.5 degrees – as they must…

To give every government the chance to reap the benefits of clean, cheap renewables and a just energy transition, simultaneously accelerating the reduction of emissions.

To enable all countries to protect themselves, and their people, from climate disaster. And to build trust between nations. International cooperation – centred on the Paris Agreement – is indispensable to climate action.

Amidst geopolitical divisions and uncertainties, the world needs countries to come together.

So, I appeal directly to ministers and negotiators: soften hard lines. Navigate a path through your differences. And keep your eyes on the bigger picture.

Never forget what is at stake. This is a COP to deliver justice in the face of climate catastrophe. To help move us closer to securing a decent world for all humanity.

Because this is not a zero-sum game.Finance is not a hand-out. It’s an investment against the devastation that unchecked climate chaos will inflict on us all.

It’s a downpayment on a safer, more prosperous future for every nation on Earth. We have progress to build upon. Last week, multilateral development banks announced a significant boost in climate finance for low- and middle- income countries. This will reach $120 billion a year by 2030 with another $65 billion mobilised from the private sector.

And in September, countries agreed to the Pact for the Future. This contains important commitments on: access to finance; effective action on debt; and substantially increasing the lending capacity of the Multilateral Development Banks, making them bigger and bolder.

As you know this is a negotiation among Member States. But the COP Presidency has my full cooperation in its efforts to strike a deal – building on last week’s consensus on carbon markets, and the new national climate action plans some countries have announced.

I urge every party to step-up, pick-up the pace, and deliver. The need is urgent. The rewards are great. And time is short.