Climate Funding Getting Increasingly Difficult

The COP29 has been tagged as a financing COP. The NCQG may be US$1.0 trillion.

The concept notes that the three COP Presidencies have prepared are extremely complex and clumsy. Accessing climate funds for vulnerable countries may become increasingly difficult. Experiences of the past few years show that until the definition of climate financing is changed and accepted, developing countries may not derive any benefit from the increase in climate funds. Developed countries will entangle developing nations in the debt trap through various loopholes.

Dr. S. M. Manjurul Hannan Khan, Executive Director at Nature Conservation Management (NACOM), said this in an interview with Mollah Amzad Hossain, Editor of Energy & Power, on the sidelines of the COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Today is the 4th day of COP29. The first two days were the world leaders’ summit. What directives have been provided for moving forward with climate negotiations?

The expectation was that a political directive would emerge to carry forward the climate negotiations toward an agreed solution. But that has not been achieved over two days of the summit. No directive has been given for climate financing. No commitment has come from the major polluting countries to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius through aggressive NDCs.

Do you think there is a possibility of reaching an agreed decision or meeting of minds in this COP for ambitious NDC 3?

By 2025 each country must submit an updated NDC for reducing 43% GHG emission by 2030. Bangladesh is preparing for it. Our carbon emission is merely 33%. It would have hardly any impact on global warming even if we reduce carbon emissions to zero. To limit global warming, major polluting countries like Canada, Australia, EU countries, and leading developing countries like India, China, and Brazil must announce and adopt ambitious emission reduction plans. But till now it seems no symptom that these countries would submit ambitious NDCs next year.