There have been complaints that it is simply not enough and that there is a mix of grants and loans. And countries are deeply annoyed by the way the rich wait until the last moment to show their hand.
“It’s a very small amount,” Chandni Raina, India’s representative, told other delegates after the deal was completed.
“This document is nothing more than an optical illusion. In our opinion, it does not address the enormous challenges we all face.”
Ultimately, developing countries had no choice but to accept it, and many rich countries argued they would not be able to negotiate a better deal, pointing to President Donald Trump, a known climate skeptic, taking office next year.
But the package has also been criticized as short-sighted from the perspective of the rich world.
If we want to keep the world safe from rising temperatures, the argument goes, rich countries should help emerging economies reduce their emissions. That’s because 75% of emissions growth over the past decade has occurred in emerging economies.
A new national plan outlining how all countries will limit global warming gases over the next decade is due to be published next spring.
A more generous cash settlement at COP29 would undoubtedly have had a positive impact on these efforts.
And in an age of geopolitical uncertainty and distraction, it must be important to unite countries on climate issues. The great fight over money has reopened old divisions between rich and poor, and I have felt anger and bitterness like I haven’t seen in years.
