COP29: Wealthy countries back raising climate deal to $300b

The European Union, United States and other wealthy countries at the COP29 climate summit have agreed to raise their offer of a global finance target to $300 billion per year by 2035, sources told Reuters on Saturday.

The shift in position came after a $250 billion proposal for a deal, drafted by Azerbaijan’s COP29 presidency on Friday, was panned by developing countries as insultingly low. 

Five sources with knowledge of the closed-door discussions said the EU had agreed they could accept the higher number. Two of the sources said the United States, Australia, and Britain were also on board.

Delegates at the UN climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan were awaiting a new draft of a global deal on climate finance on Saturday morning after negotiators worked through the night.

It was not immediately clear if the wealthy countries’ revised position had been communicated to developing countries at COP29.

A European Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the negotiations. The US delegation at COP29 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.