The COP29 conference will be held in Azerbaijan. (Photo: COP29)
The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) will kick off on Nov. 11, with a primary focus on climate finance.
However, ahead of the meeting, reports have emerged that countries such as the United States and members of the European Union are pushing to expand the list of contributors, requesting countries like Singapore to assume part of the financial responsibility. This has raised concerns that the negotiations could become deadlocked, potentially undermining global progress in addressing climate change.
New climate finance plan faces challenges
Under the Paris Agreement, governments agreed to establish a new climate finance goal by 2025, which means the COP29 summit is expected to reach a clear consensus on the "New Collective Quantified Goal" (NCQG). This will address how developed countries can provide the financial resources needed for developing nations to tackle climate change. However, significant divisions have already emerged during the negotiations.
Going back to 2009, developed countries agreed to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance, but they failed to meet this target by the original deadline in 2020 and only achieved it two years later, in 2022. Now, with the new target set for 2025, differing opinions have surfaced among countries.
According to climate media outlet Carbon Brief, countries have varying views on almost every aspect of the NCQG, including the total amount of funding, who should contribute, the types of funding to be provided, and the duration of the financial support.
Singapore, which has been named as a potential donor, has publicly rejected the proposal. Grace Fu, Singapore’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, stated that multilateral treaties clearly stipulate that developed nations have an obligation to provide climate finance, while Singapore is considered a developing country.
She further emphasized that expanding the list of contributors could undermine the integrity of the Paris Agreement, making negotiations on the fund’s definition and structure particularly challenging.
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Grace Fu said that Singapore, considered a developing country, is not obligated to provide climate finance to other developing nations. (Photo: Grace Fu)
Singapore rejects being included in the “donor” list
Minister Fu underscored that Singapore has no obligation to provide resources to developing nations and has voluntarily contributed to global climate finance efforts. This includes launching a hybrid financing initiative in 2023, which aims to raise $5 billion to help accelerate the phase-out of coal-fired power plants and upgrade the energy grid infrastructure across Asia.
In addition to Singapore, other countries have also been named as potential contributors, based on various indicators. If the criteria are based on total carbon emissions and economic status, nations such as China, India, Russia, and Brazil are seen as potential candidates.
If the focus is on per capita carbon emissions and income, fossil fuel-producing countries like the UAE and Kuwait, along with high-income countries such as Israel, South Korea, and Singapore, are being suggested as countries that should bear part of the responsibility for climate finance.
Source: Reuters、Carbon Brief、The Straits Times
