20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY DECEMBER 5-11, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com Burned Out The ‘worst’ climate talks, COP29, end with a heartbreaking climate-finance deal. By Carol Schaeffer FORUM The international climate summit COP29 ended with an agreement that disappointed nearly everyone who wasn’t from a rich country. The deal created a New Collective Quantified Goal or NCQG, UN-speak for a fixed amount that wealthy nations would pay to poorer ones. The bill for the Global North will come to $300 billion per year by 2035. This is a fraction of the $1.3 trillion in annual grants that developing countries were pushing to begin immediately. The deal marked an end to what one negotiator called the “worst COP in recent memory.” Experts estimate that $1.3 trillion a year is what it would cost to avoid surpassing the planet’s 1.5-degree Celsius temperature threshold that was set in the 2015 Paris climate agreements. This level of funding is what’s needed to invest in energy transitions in addition to what is already being spent. Delegates from across the Global South slammed the final deal. The African Group of Negotiators described the final pledge as “too little, too late.” “The outcome of COP29 is nothing short of heartbreaking,” said Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, Panama’s climate envoy. “It feels as if we have signed away the 1.5-degree target—our only real chance to safeguard humanity’s future.” This year COP was meant to address perhaps the most important question plaguing the climate-change movement: Who’s going to pay to stop climate change? Billed as the “finance COP,” negotiators were set with a task to clarify the money question. A report released by economists at COP29 said that the “projected investment requirement for climate action” would be a whopping $6.7 trillion per year by 2030. (To put that number into perspective: The entire U.S. federal budget for 2024 was $6.75 trillion.) In the late hours of the negotiation, U.S. and European leaders worked to secure a deal announced Nov. 24, two days after the scheduled end of the summit. “The need is great, the offer on the table from donor countries is high, so hopefully we will pull something together,” said U.S. climate envoy John Podesta. “COP29 will be remembered as the start of a new era on climate finance,” EU climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra said. “This COP delivered an ambitious and realistic goal.” The U.S., China and Europe have forced these costs on other nations by heating up the Earth with their emissions. The countries of the Global South will not forget that they have hardly taken any responsibility for this. Many feel that the COP29 decision may keep the multilateral system barely afloat, while failing to address the crisis. “The lack of ambition and urgency is a betrayal of science, morality and responsibility,” Gomez says. “We cannot rely on the goodwill of those who have failed us time and again. This is not a question of convenience; it is a question of survival.” Carol Schaeffer is a journalist based in New York whose work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, ProPublica and The Nation, where this story was originally published. OPINION “It is a betrayal of science, morality and responsibility.” At First Tee, we do this by helping them develop their swing, but more importantly, their inner strength; with coaches who help them navigate the course as well as guide them through new challenges. Because we know what’s inside doesn’t just count; it changes the game. We’re Building Game Changers. We believe all kids deserve to feel excited to grow, safe to fail and better equipped for whatever comes at them next. Your contributions through Monterey County Gives! will help provide reliable transportation for our youth and coaches, ensuring that every child can participate in our life-changing programs. Thank you for your support. For more information visit: MCGives.com/tee
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