‘Shockingly insufficient’

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, today criticised the proposed $250 billion annual climate aid to poorer countries at the COP29 in Azerbaijan as “shockingly insufficient.”
Wealthy nations today offered the money to help poorer nations hit hardest by global warming but faced immediate calls from several groups of nations to give more as UN climate negotiations extended into overtime.
She also expressed her profound disappointment with the latest text on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance, published by the COP29 presidency.
In her statement, she criticised the text as a “very disappointing package,” noting its failure to meet the critical needs of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
“The proposed decision to allocate $250 billion per year for all developing countries is shockingly insufficient,” she said, emphasising that the amount is neither provisioned nor designated as grants.
Furthermore, the text fails to allocate any dedicated funds to the most vulnerable 45 LDCs.
The adviser highlighted the inadequacy of the COP29 outcomes in addressing climate finance challenges, despite this conference being explicitly focused on the issue.
“The package has failed to provide the minimum required justification for an NCQG that should uplift the most vulnerable nations. It offers nothing concrete for LDCs and SIDS, leaving them exposed to escalating climate risks,” she said.
Rizwana urged LDCs to resist this package, asserting that it “will make little difference in reality” without substantive revisions. She called on all stakeholders to advocate for a more ambitious, fair, and actionable climate finance framework that prioritises the needs of the world’s most vulnerable communities.