Less than hoped for

Haggling over billions at the climate summit

Until recently, hardly anyone expected an agreement to be reached at the climate summit. The result is far from the hoped-for ...

(Bild: AP/sergei Grits)

At the extended UN meeting in Azerbaijan, things got heated - but contrary to all expectations, an agreement was reached in the end: The donor states commit to providing 300 billion dollars by 2035. A lot of money, but for many "not ambitious enough" ...

The atmosphere at the conference center in the Azerbaijani capital on Saturday night was one of doomsday. The majority of the 20,000 delegates who had jetted off to the Caucasus had already left. There was an eerie emptiness of people. However, there was increasingly loud arguing in the negotiating rooms. Finally, dozens of representatives from the most affected island states stormed out of the negotiations in a rage. Nobody was listening to their concerns.

Then, shortly before midnight, an agreement was reached. The annual contribution of the industrialized countries is to be increased to at least 300 billion dollars by 2035. This is far less than demanded by the developing countries, but still a tripling of the current commitment of 100 billion dollars per year.

The decision to phase out fossil fuels by 2023 in Dubai was completely overshadowed at the summit. Despite all 28 previous UN summits, the emissions caused by this have exploded worldwide. "The COPs are a spectacle that achieve nothing," railed German climate researcher Mojib Latif in view of the stagnation. Only in the 27 EU member states have climate-killing net gas emissions fallen and are now 37 percent lower than in 1990.

"Krone" environmental editor Perry (left) met UN General Guterres at the COP and wished him "good luck". The latter was determined to make the meeting a success.

(Bild: privat)

"Insultingly low" offer
However, this played no role in the heated phase of the extended summit! Until the very end, the developing countries had indignantly rejected even a 250 billion dollar offer from the rich industrialized countries to mitigate climate damage as "insultingly low". In the end, this was "only" increased by 50 billion dollars. "I would have liked a more ambitious result", commented UN General António Guterres on X.

The fact that India, China and Brazil have the status of developing countries and are not being asked to pay as donor states also caused outrage.

Gewessler fought until the last minute
Despite her last appearance as a minister at a COP, Leonore Gewessler fought until the last minute to prevent the summit from failing completely. Late in the evening, the EU still doubted the success of the summit and insisted on a clear commitment to the agreed reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke bluntly of a power play by states with fossil fuel interests, including the Azerbaijani presidency.