COP29: Finance COP face rocky finale

Three years of painstaking negotiations to craft a new climate finance package for the developing world now hinge on the final 48 hours of the UN climate conference.

The stage is set for a highstakes showdown as rich and poor nations remain deeply divided, and the clock ticks toward an uncertain Friday deadline.

COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev is holding out hope for a "timely closure", but the odds are slim as developed and developing nations remain locked in a standoff over the thorniest issues.

At the heart of the talks is a new climate finance goal aimed at helping developing nations cut emissions and adapt to the worsening impacts of climate change. The developing world argues it needs at least $1.3 trillion annually 13 times the $100 billion pledged in 2009 -to meet the growing challenges.