“Uncovering the Inequities and Injustices of COP29’s Financial Goals: A Critical Analysis” 

The derisory new climate finance target agreed at the close of COP29 in Azerbaijan will put the human rights of billions of people at risk and perpetuate global inequalities, Amnesty International said today. Following days of protracted and opaque negotiations in Baku, the conference ended yesterday with an agreement by high-income countries to mobilize USD300 billion annually by 2035, to help lower-income countries address the escalating climate crisis.The world’s wealthiest countries have spent this year’s climate conference bullying lower-income countries into accepting a miserly finance agreement which could saddle them with huge debts. Ann Harrison, Climate Justice AdvisorThis is less than a quarter of the minimum amount demanded by many lower-income countries and activists.“The world’s wealthiest countries have spent this year’s climate conference bullying lower-income countries into accepting a miserly finance agreement which could saddle them with huge debts. High-income countries and the Azerbaijan presidency are loudly congratulating themselves, but no amount of spin can hide the fact that this agreement is a disaster for the human rights of people and communities on the front line of proliferating climate impacts,” said Ann Harrison, Climate Justice Advisor at Amnesty International.“Rather than moving towards a world where the human rights of all are protected from the harms of climate change, the outcome of COP29 gives the green light to profit-making business as usual. It will perpetuate the ongoing harms stemming from colonialism, and exacerbate the suffering caused by climate change. High-income countries are breaching their obligations under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. This outcome will allow fossil fuel companies to continue sacrificing the human rights of countless people in their ruthless pursuit of profit.”We urgently need a commitment by all countries to a rapid, human rights compliant phase-out of fossil fuels: this must be high on the agenda at COP30.Carine Thibaut, Director of Amnesty ‘International Belgium’s Francophone sectionMany lower-income countries had called for at least USD1.3 trillion in annual public grant-equivalent finance, to help them adapt to climate change and recover from loss and damage. The deal reached at COP29 will do neither. Instead, it risks trapping lower-income countries in a cycle of indebtedness at a time when they are seeking to take urgent climate action.COP29 also failed to make any progress on the critical issue of phasing out fossil fuels.“We will not be able to address massive climate disruption, and its harm to human rights – including the right to life – without a full, fast, fair and funded phase out of fossil fuels,” said Carine Thibaut, Director of Amnesty ‘International Belgium’s Francophone section.“It defies belief that many countries are still initiating new fossil fuel extraction projects. We urgently need a commitment by all countries