COP29: Wealthy nations clinch climate deal as they agree to spend $300 billion annually by 2035 supporting poorer nations. India describes the amount as "an utterly small sum….

COP29: The world secured a new climate deal Saturday at the COP29, which got richer nations to commit to providing $300 billion annually by 2035 to help poorer nations grapple with the increasing impacts of the climate crisis. However, India's representative termed the amount a 'paltry sum,' reports said.

Immediately after the gavel came down, India's representative, Chandni Raina, condemned the $300 billion pledge as a "paltry sum." She described the agreement as "nothing more than an optical illusion" and argued that it failed to "address the enormity of the challenge we all face," CNN reported.

The COP29 agreement has finally been reached after more than two weeks of intense argument and negotiation, coupled with boycotts and political disputes. At times, there had been threats that the talks would collapse, the latest being when delegates of vulnerable small island states and the least-developed countries walked out of the negotiations on Saturday.

Why is $300 billion a 'paltry sum'?
Finance made up a large bulk of the discussions at COP29, but the $300 billion pledged is far from the $1.3 trillion economists say the developing nations need to weather the climate crisis.

Rich countries, who are primarily to blame for this historical climate change, committed in 2009 to providing $100 billion annually by 2020 to developing countries. This promise was already grossly insufficient, and it only came up in 2022, two years after the stipulated deadline.

It's only $1.3 trillion of it that has been acknowledged initial, and climate experts were quick to mention that the flow of these funds was something that the COP29 goals didn't actually specify how to manage.

"It must state (that) of the $1.3 trillion, $600 billion must be sourced from the budget of developed countries. That's what G77 has demanded," Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), told Mint. And none of G77's demands was met. It was "very far from what developing countries have demanded."

Wealthy nations pledge to provide $300 billion a year in climate aid for developing countries after the UN summit nearly imploded over the deal. https://t.co/aMP7PBcVT9

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