COP29: Countries begin from scratch on finance talks

But agreeing on the requirement is one thing, mobilising that kind of money quite the other. Countries are deeply divided over what can realistically be mustered every year, who all should contribute, what proportion should come from public sources and what left for private mobilisation, how much should be allocated to mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage, and even more basic issues like what classifies, or gets counted, as climate finance.

Countries have been putting forward their proposals which are widely divergent right now. On Tuesday, the group of G77 and China, which consists of over 130 developing nations, had said that developed countries must agree to mobilise at least 1.3 trillion dollars every year, only to help the developing world fight climate change.

The developed countries have not proposed any number, though they acknowledge that the requirement is in trillions of dollars a year. But they contend that they alone cannot raise all this money, and that the contributor base must be broadened to include other countries as well.

The African group of countries on Wednesday rejected this demand for expansion of contributor base.

“The (UN Framework) Convention is very clear regarding the flow of financing. There are established commitments and obligations. Developed countries must lead in providing the financing, while developing countries are the recipients… We cannot reopen the Convention and the Agreement for further negotiation,” they said.