India calls $300 billion climate aid commitment a ‘paltry sum’ at COP29

COP29: The world reached a new climate deal at the COP29 on Saturday, with wealthy countries committing to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 to assist poorer nations in addressing the growing impacts of the climate crisis. However, India’s representative said the amount was a ‘paltry sum,’ stated reports.
Immediately after the gavel came down, India’s representative, Chandni Raina, condemned the $300 billion pledge as a “paltry sum.” She described the agreement as “nothing more than an optical illusion” and argued that it failed to “address the enormity of the challenge we all face,” reported CNN.
The agreement at COP29 was reached after over two weeks of intense arguments and negotiations, coupled by boycotts and political disputes. At times, there were concerns the talks would collapse, especially when representatives of vulnerable small island states and the least-developed countries walked out of the negotiations on Saturday.
COP29 focused heavily on finance. However, the $300 billion that has been pledged, falls far short of the $1.3 trillion that economists say is necessary to help developing countries cope with the climate crisis.
Rich countries, which are primarily responsible for historical climate change, committed in 2009 to providing $100 billion annually by 2020 to developing countries. This pledge, already seen as grossly inadequate, was only fulfilled in 2022, two years after the deadline.
While a budget of $1.3 trillion has been intially acknowledged, climate experts highlighted that the COP29 goals did not specify how the flow of the funds would be managed.
“It must specify (that) out of $1.3 trillion, $600 billion must come from the government budget of developed countries. That’s what G77 has asked for,” Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), told Mint. She also added that none of the G77’s demands were met, and was “very far from what developing countries have demanded.”