(Bloomberg) -- The United Nations climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan were struggling to find a breakthrough on Saturday as the conference continued to run far into overtime.
A broad coalition including the US, European Union, island states and developing countries worked together overnight to craft a deal that would bridge disagreements over climate finance and emissions goals.
The US and EU negotiators proposed that developed nations increase a funding commitment to $300 billion a year, triple the current annual pledge that’s due to expire, people familiar with the matter said.
Yet the same people raised concerns that Saudi Arabia and other members of the Arab group and the Like Minded Developing Countries coalitions were continuing to push back on any references to the outcome of last year’s COP28 in Dubai, which included a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed frustration with the progress in an audio statement over WhatsApp. “We are in the middle of a geopolitical power play by a few fossil fuels states,” she said. “They are playing on the backs of the poorest and most vulnerable countries.”
Many negotiators said the Azeri COP29 presidency was at risk of losing control of the process, with dozens of delegations due to leave in the coming hours.
Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, Panama’s special representative for climate change, put the blame for the disarray on the presidency, but said offers by the rich nations are still inadequate.
“If needs are $1.3 trillion for money flows from rich to poor, then $300 billion is crumbs,” he said.
A draft released before the summit’s scheduled close on Friday called for rich nations to offer $250 billion annually by 2035. It received immediate pushback from developing and vulnerable nations who have insisted far more money is needed to deal with the consequences of decades of unchecked greenhouse gas emissions.
The closed-door talks are still trying to work out the make-up of the core multibillion-dollar funding commitment, including the role of multilateral development banks, the people said, asking not to be named because the negotiations aren’t public. There’s also still discussions on how countries such as China and Saudi Arabia should play a role in providing climate finance overall, they said.
China said earlier this week it would only contribute climate finance voluntarily and did not want it included in COP29 pledge commitments.
It’s still not clear whether developing countries and small island states would be able to accept a figure that was well below their original ask.
Negotiators spent the night trying to hammer out a deal that will see wealthy nations provide funding to poorer countries to build green economies and resilience to global warming. Tense negotiations over the past two weeks in Baku have often spilled into the open as different sides tried to bridge deep divisions.
Members of country delegations were spotted sprawled on lounge chairs at the COP29 venue, Baku Olympic Stadium, in the early hours of Saturday as they tried to catch quick naps between meetings.
The main goal of this year’s negotiations is to replace an existing annual $100 billion climate finance pledge with one delivering far more to help poorer nations.
Even if a new proposal goes as high as $300 billion, many in the developing world will still be dissatisfied. Countries in the Global South have said their requirements to combat rising temperatures and restructure their economies run into the trillions of dollars a year.
The draft released Friday also called for total funding of at least $1.3 trillion annually — the bulk of it in private financing — by the middle of the next decade. Negotiators are still waiting for an updated proposal to be released by the COP29 presidency on Saturday.
--With assistance from Alfred Cang.
(Updates throughout with details on disputes)
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