Staff Reporter :
During the ongoing COP29 Global Climate Conference, representatives from various Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called for $1.5 trillion under the new climate finance goal for the 2025-2030 period.
They have also opposed any text and criteria that would shift responsibility from developed countries to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and developing nations.
The dialogue, titled “From Millions to Trillions: The Transformations Needed to Finance Climate Justice,” took place at the COP29 Climate Conference in Baku, according to a press release issued on Saturday. Various CSOs participated in the event, including Lidy Nacpil from the Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (Philippines), Ezequiel Steuermann from the Network for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (Argentina), Patricia Wattiena from ESCR-Net (USA), and Aminul Hoque from COAST Foundation (Bangladesh), along with other civil society leaders from around the world. The discussion was moderated by Katja Voigt of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Germany).
Aminul Hoque emphasised that climate finance is essential for the survival of Most Vulnerable Countries (MVCs) and humanity, rather than merely for development purposes.
He criticised the draft text on the New Collective and Quantified Goal (NCQG), noting that it includes 13 negotiating options with numerous ambiguous brackets, which he argued are designed to delay negotiations and trap countries in a cycle of procrastination.
Hoque also pointed out that the absence of the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capacities (CBDR-RC) in the text would unfairly shift the financial burden onto LDCs.
He called for a clearer definition of climate finance, along with specific, quantified financial commitments in the negotiations.
He further highlighted that countries like Bangladesh, which are among the MVCs, lack the capacity to mobilise additional funds for survival-related expenses, estimating that Bangladesh needs approximately $3.5 billion annually for climate adaptation and resilience.
He stressed that, under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, it is the responsibility of developed countries to provide these funds, as they are primarily accountable for causing the climate crisis and the vulnerabilities faced by countries like Bangladesh.
Lidy Nacpil emphasised that an ambitious NCQG of $1.5 trillion in climate finance is crucial for supporting vulnerable communities. She highlighted that, based on their calculations, the financial support needed to implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030 is estimated at $1.48 trillion, with $220 billion per year required for LDCs alone. Nacpil stressed that the NCQG must be designed with operational features that fully implement Article 9.4 of the Paris Agreement, which calls for scaling up finance, ensuring it aligns with the needs and priorities of developing countries.
Ezequiel Steuermann emphasised that the NCQG text must clearly define what does not count as climate finance, particularly from an accounting standpoint. He specified that non-concessional loans and export credits should not be included in the progress towards meeting the goal. Furthermore, he stressed that climate finance should be non-debt-inducing and free from conditionalities. All aspects of the goal, he added, must respect the sovereignty of recipient countries.