COP29 gets boost from Rio as G20 leaders return to scaling climate finance from ‘billions to trillions’

While statements from the world’s leading economies – and biggest emitters – do not explicitly mention a ‘transition away from fossil fuels’, something all countries agreed to on last year at COP28 in Dubai, G20 leaders ‘welcomed the balanced and ambitious outcome’ of those talks.

The G20 joint communiqué was issued as the clock ticked down COP29is scheduled to end this Friday in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. Complex negotiations over new and significantly scaled-up funding for loss and damage and accelerating clean energy goals are progressing slowly, as some countries deepen their positions. while waiting for other countries to back down from its position.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell, who previously warned of brinkmanship and what he called ‘you are the first‘, today said G20 leaders had sent a clear message to their negotiators at COP29: “A successful new fiscal target… is in the clear interest of every country.”

More to follow…