THE SCOTTISH Greens have slammed the new COP29 climate financial package for falling short on the funds requested by developing nations.
Saturday saw wealthier nations commit to paying a combined $300 billion a year to assist developing countries move away from fossil fuels and invest in renewables. Wealthier nations will also strive to raise a combined $1.3 trillion a year from both public and private sources to ease the transition.
The deal has seen heavy criticism from representatives of developing countries for falling short of the $500bn per year requested. The African Group of Negotiators described the package as "too little, too late", and India dismissed the deal as a “paltry sum".
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie labelled the deal “hopeless”.
In a statement, Harvie said: “This year’s COP has produced a hopelessly weak deal for island nations and developing nations at a time of urgent climate crisis.
“Once again it has been treated as a stage for political leaders to greenwash their polluting records. It often seems like the worse the crisis gets, the less that leaders and governments are willing to do to tackle it.
“We cannot afford any more wasted days or failed summits while climate chaos devastates lives from Vietnam to Valencia. The best time to move on from fossil fuels was decades ago, but the next best time is right now.”
The head of the UN climate body, Simon Stiell, admitted that the deal falls short: "No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do".
Harvie added: “We need to prioritise climate restoration and huge investment to mitigate the devastating impact that the crisis is already having…instead we have seen wealthier countries, including some of the biggest polluters, shirking their responsibility and continuing with business as usual while the world burns around them.”
COP29 is the United Nations' annual climate change summit. This year's conference takes place in Azerbaijan, whose economy is primarily fuelled by its petroleum and natural gas industries, which account for over 90% its exports.
