India’s intervention reiterated that the developed countries need to commit to providing and mobilising at least $1.3 trillion every year till 2030, through grants, concessional finance, and non-debt-inducing support.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

At the ongoing COP29 negotiations in Baku, India stated that climate finance — the money that’s necessary to incentivise and facilitate developing countries’ adoption of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels — should not be seen as “investment goals” by developed countries.

“Climate finance cannot be changed into an investment goal when it is a unidirectional provision and mobilisation goal from the developed to the developing countries. The Paris Agreement is clear on who is to provide and mobilise the climate finance — it is the developed countries,” said a statement by India’s lead negotiator, Naresh Pal Gangwar, on late Thursday (November 14, 2024). The statement was formally made public by the Union Environment Ministry on Friday (November 15, 2024). Currently, $5-6.8 trillion worth of climate finance until 2030 is being mooted at Baku.

Several technical issues are being deliberated upon at Baku. The key moment, however, that the hundreds of negotiators are working upon is the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG). This is an estimate of the money that developing countries will collectively require from developed countries to adapt to climate change and shift to renewable sources without compromising on developmental needs.

The existing estimate, agreed upon in 2009, was to mobilise and deliver $100 billion annually from 2020-2025 but was fulfilled — not to universal agreement — only in 2022. However, the countries also collectively decided, in 2021, to increase this, come up with a new number, and make it operational by 2025. This is why the Baku COP is expected to deliver on a new number to make the COP a success.

Intervening on behalf of a collective called ‘Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), at the High-Level Ministerial on Climate Finance in Baku, India, highlighted that the impacts of climate change were increasingly becoming evident in the form of unfolding disasters.

“We are at a crucial juncture in our fight against climate change. What we decide here will enable all of us, particularly those in the Global South, to not only take ambitious mitigation action but also adapt. This CoP is historic in this context,” said Mr. Gangwar.

The statement firmly asserted that, recognising the historical responsibilities and differences in capacities, the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement envisage a global response to climate change, adhering to the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities. “The context of different national circumstances, sustainable development goals, and poverty eradication, particularly with respect to the Global South, should not be lost sight of. These principles must form the basis for a strong outcome on the New Collective Quantified Goal at CoP29,” it added.

India’s intervention reiterated that the developed countries need to commit to providing and mobilising at least $1.3 trillion every year till 2030, through grants, concessional finance, and non-debt-inducing support that cater to the evolving needs and priorities of developing countries without subjecting them to growth-inhibiting constitutionalities in the provision of finance.

The statement recognised that such a scenario is vital for advancing towards COP30, where all parties are expected to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). “Achieving this outcome will set a solid foundation for meaningful progress in our global climate efforts,” it noted.

India strongly laid down the point that bringing in the elements of any new goal that are outside the mandate of the convention and its Paris Agreement is unacceptable. The statement ruled out any scope for re-negotiation of the Paris Agreement and its provisions.

Asserting that “transparency and trust” are the backbones of any multilateral process, India noted that there is no understanding of what comprises climate finance. Developed countries’ performance regarding their existing financial and technological commitments has been disappointing.

India’s intervention stated that a clear definition of climate finance, in line with the provisions of UNFCCC and its Paris Agreements, will promote transparency and is vital for furthering constructive deliberations and building trust. In this regard, the statement said, “We take note of the work carried out by the Standing Committee on Finance; however, there is need to further work in arriving at a meaningful definition of climate finance”.

The intervention called out the developed countries and stated that they committed to jointly mobilise $100 billion per year by 2020, a deadline extended to 2025. While the $100 billion target is already inadequate compared to the actual requirements of developing countries, the real amount mobilised has been even less encouraging.

“The $100 billion was committed in 2009, 15 years ago. We have a common time frame for expressing ambitions every five years. There is a similar need in terms of climate finance. We are very hopeful that developed countries will realise their responsibility to enable enhanced ambitions and make this CoP29 a success,” the statement said.

Environmental activists protest during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

In the nosebleed seats of a nearly-empty Baku Olympic stadium coated with a layer of dust, activists used a giant banner to beam the words “Pay Up” to the world.

The protest took weeks of thought and planning, but most of the attendees at this year’s U.N. climate talks didn’t see or hear it — except for maybe some in the COP29 presidency offices right below. The majority of the people involved in deciding the financial future of climate action at the talks remained in the sprawling venue, under white tarps with no windows.

Chants restricted

It’s “really hard to make our demands heard,” said Bianca Castro, a climate activist from Portugal. She’s been to several COPs in the past and remembers years when there were thousands of protestors in the streets, and a multitude of strikes and actions throughout the event. But at the stadium’s seats, they were told exactly where and when they could stand and chants were restricted. A United Nations climate change spokesperson said that the action was in a part of the venue that isn’t open to participants, and involved extensive dialogue among the participants, facility managers and health and safety officers.

Still, Ms. Castro said the difficulty of making an impact meant many are “losing hope in the in the process.”

People involved in protests say they have felt a trend in recent years of stricter rules from the United Nations organizers with COPs being held in countries whose governments limit demonstrations and the participation of civil society. And some community spaces for prepping and organizing have had to resort to going underground because of security concerns. But the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change — who run the COPs — say the code of conduct that governs the conferences has not changed, nor has the way it’s applied, and COP29 organizers say there’s space across the venue for participants to “make their voices heard in line with the UNFCCC code of conduct and Azerbaijan law safely and without interference.”

Voices from the Global South

Despite the challenges and what some see as a depressing mood, activists say it remains a critical time to speak up about the historical and present-day injustices that are in desperate need of money and attention.

It’s especially true this year at a COP where the theme is finance, because voices from the Global South play a pivotal role in bringing ambitious demands to the negotiating table, said Rachitaa Gupta, who coordinates a global network of organizations advocating for climate justice. But she said that there have been more and more defamation rules each year that prohibit protestors from calling out specific countries or names.

“We do feel that the restrictions have reached a stage where it’s a constant battle on what we can say,” Gupta said. Activists can’t name specific countries, people or businesses in line with the UNFCCC’s code of conduct.

Protest in Baku

Meanwhile, across town in a downtown Baku building, activists paint, snip fabric and sculpt with cardboard and papier-mache in a quest for visually compelling symbols of climate action. The art space was once a place of community, where people came to pour their feelings into a creative outlet, said Amalen Sathananthar, coordinator at a collective called the Artivist Network. But now his team keeps the art space private and doesn’t reveal its location because of security concerns.

Restrictions, though, can breed creativity among the artists designing the banners, flags and props that demonstrators use during protests. In the absence of naming specific people or countries, or carrying country flags, they instead have to come up with other imagery to get their messages across.

One of this year’s pieces was a larger-than-life snake for an action with the slogan “Weed Out the Snakes,” calling attention for the removal of big polluters and fossil fuel lobbyists at climate talks, something that’s been “outrageous,” said Jax Bongon, whose organization is part of the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition. “Would you invite an arsonist to put out the fire?”

It’s an issue that’s “particularly hard for me as someone from the Philippines,” Bongon added, but called it “really uplifting” to watch the action come together despite challenges.

Demonstrators hoisted the fire-colored serpent with on their shoulders and heads. Together, their hisses filled the tent, bringing the snake to life.

“I think that the only reason people dare to do this is because, one, they’re struggling on how to be heard,” said Dani Rupa, one of the artists working in Baku with The Artivist Network. “But, two, that there is like creative support for them to be able to do this.”

The Artivist Network have been doing this for a long time, attending COPs unofficially since the early 2000s and officially since they formalized in 2018. Sathananthar’s seen the multitude of ways protestors have had to argue with host countries and the UNFCCC governing body to get space for activism. But this year, especially, he said it’s a struggle — “negotiations within negotiations” that have had Sathananthar staying up late into the night in talks and on occasion have left him “fuming.”

A spokesperson for UNFCCC said they’ve “been a recognized global leader in ensuring safe civic spaces at COPs for many years” which normally doesn’t happen at other intergovernmental events.

Still, activists feel that only being able to protest within certain areas throughout the venue — when previous years have seen mass street marches in host cities — can be frustrating.

“Every action you now have to fight for desperately,” Sathananthar said. “We fought to get these spaces and we will fight to keep them.”