Not found: “Common ground” at COP29

With only few hours remaining for the draft text to arrive, there’s still no clear consensus on key issues between Parties

“Is this a joke?” questioned Diego Pacheco, Bolivian negotiator on behalf of the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group, when asked about their thoughts on a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) quantum of $200 billion. 

As the clock ticks on the two-week long climate conference, there seems to be no consensus on many issues, including the quantum of climate finance under NCQG at the Finance COP. 

While the EU has not yet publicly given a quantum, citing lack of clarity on the elements forming the fund. While the EU has been silent on an official public finance figure, there are rumours that it is considering a $200-$300 billion offer. “Taking inflation into account, this rumoured EU figure amounts to nothing,” Tasneem Essop, executive director, Climate Action Network (CAN) said. 

Essop also said that developing countries have put forward their proposals for the climate finance goal, with a minimum of $600 billion in public finance. “Developed countries are insisting that the issue of the expansion of the contributor base and the role of the private sector must be decided before they put an amount forward,” she added. 

It has been previously pointed out that aspects like structure do not fall under the purview of current discussions. So, no decisions are needed on that front to arrive at a quantum. 

Still debating the contributor base

The matter of the contributor base is nowhere close to an agreement. On Tuesday, a Guardian report said that many delegates from developing countries are calling for India and China to pay for climate finance. 

In response, Safa Al Jayoussi, regional climate justice advisor, Oxfam International, “We need to be aware that tactics like this are used by developed countries all the time. It should not divert our attention from the actual goal of NCQG, the quantum and also the quality of climate finance.”

At the moment, the EU is focused on finding “common ground” among countries. Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate Action, said that it “is of tremendous importance that all with the ability to do so rise to the occasion” and make sure that the “most vulnerable” gets all help they need — reemphasising EU’s stance on widening the donor base and prioritising the most vulnerable over all developing countries.  

However, delivering the UAE consensus i.e. transitioning away from fossil fuel came up repetitively. “There’s a lot of frustration among developed countries about why we are not talking about mitigation. But where’s the money to do mitigation?” said Meena Raman, head of programmes, Third World Network (TWN). 

Pacheco also said that the developed countries are making mitigation more prescriptive for developing countries, cherry picking solutions for them. 

When the clock strikes midnight

Yalchin Rafiyev, the COP29 lead negotiator, said earlier on Wednesday that text on the NCQG,  Just Transition Work Program (JTWP), Mitigation Work Program (MWP), Global Goal on Adaptation and the UAE Dialogue will be released around midnight. Another text will be released the following morning. 

According to Rafiyev, the draft texts will not have too many options. They’ll be “straight to the point texts” for more focused discussions to find a “common ground”. Meanwhile there will be no cover text, Rafiyev clarified, in order to not deviate the attention of the parties from the main negotiations. 

Criticism looms over the Presidency as civil society cites a lack of transparency in the process. “Since the start of this second week, observers haven’t had access to the negotiating rooms on the climate finance goal. Observers are only learning about new positions either directly from Parties or from media coverage,” Essop said. 

While civil society is warning against processes that are rushed and closed—recalling the  Copenhagen COP where $100 billion was offered in a ‘take it or leave it’ move—leaders from developing countries are repeatedly saying that climate finance is an obligation and not a charity. 

How much of all this will be delivered in the official COP text? We only have a few hours to find out.

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Vandita Sariya

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