The pledge of financing by the Development Bank gives COP29 an early boost

COP29 negotiators said that the pledge of major development banks, to increase funding for poor and middle income countries who are struggling to combat global warming was a positive start to the two week summit.

Tuesday, a group of lenders including the World Bank announced that they would increase this financing to $120 billion, which is a 60% increase from the amount in 2030.

Eamon Eamon Ryan, Irish Climate Minister said on Wednesday: "I believe it's a good sign."

It's very helpful. Ryan added that this alone will not be enough. He said countries and companies should also contribute.

The main goal of the Azerbaijan conference is to achieve a broad international climate finance agreement, which will guarantee up to trillions in dollars for climate projects.

The Developing Countries are looking for big commitments by the rich industrialized countries, which historically have been the largest contributors to global climate change and are some of those that produce large amounts of fossil fuels.

Climate activist Harjeet Sing said, "Developed countries are not only neglecting their historic duty to reduce carbon emissions but they're also doubling down on growth fueled by fossil fuels."

In 2009, wealthy countries committed to contributing $100 billion per year to assist developing nations in their transition to clean energy. They also pledged to adapt to a world that is warming. These payments were not fully made until 2022, and the pledge is set to expire this year.

Scientists say that global warming is accelerating faster than anticipated. 2024 will be the hottest on record.

Wildfires fueled by climate change forced Californians to evacuate and air quality alerts were issued in New York. Spain's survivors are still coming to grips with the worst flooding in its modern history.

Edi Rama, Albania's prime minister, expressed concern that the international effort to combat global warming was not progressing quickly enough.

He told the audience that "this seems to be exactly what happens every day in the real world." Rama continued, "The world continues to go on as usual, and our speeches filled with words of goodwill about combating climate change do nothing." (Written by Richard Valdmanis, edited by Alexander Smith).

(source: Reuters)