BAKU – A fresh draft of a climate pact unveiled yesterday at COP29 failed to break an impasse between nations, with negotiators racing against the clock to broker a trillion-dollar finance agreement.

The UN climate summit is scheduled to conclude on Friday but the latest draft deal released by hosts Azerbaijan was spurned by rich and poor countries alike.

The main priority at COP29 is agreeing on a new target to replace the US$100 billion a year that rich nations pledged for poorer ones to fight climate change. Developing countries plus China, an influential negotiating bloc, are pushing for US$1.3 trillion by 2030 and want at least US$500 billion of that from developed nations.

Major contributors like the European Union have baulked at such demands, and insist private sector money would be needed to meet a larger goal.

The latest draft recognises that developing countries need a commitment of at least “USD [X] trillion” per year, but omits the concrete figure sought in Baku.

“There is a critical piece of this puzzle missing: the overall number,” said Cedric Schuster, the Samoan chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a group of nations at threat from rising seas.

“The time for political games is over.” Ali Mohamed, the chair of the African Group of Negotiators, another important bloc, said the “elephant in the room” was the figure. “This is the reason we are here… but we are no closer and we need the developed countries to urgently engage on this matter,” said Mohamed, who is also Kenya’s climate envoy.

COP29 hosts Azerbaijan said a “shorter” draft would be unveiled, and would “contain numbers”.

Other major sticking points — including who contributes, and how the money is raised and delivered — were also left unresolved in the slimmed-down 10-page document.

Many nations said the text failed to reflect the need to phase out coal, oil and gas — the main drivers of global warming.

– Nampa/AFP