site.btaCOP29 Programme Formally Ends, Negotiations Continue

The COP29 programme, which was scheduled to end by 10 pm local time on November 22, ended without any results. The draft final documents announced by the Azerbaijani presidency in the second half of the day were critically received and no official positions of the parties on them were issued. The conference participants were unanimous in their disappointment with the presidency's proposals, noted the specialized publication Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

Although there is no official announcement about the extension of the conference, negotiations continue. The presidency's text on climate finance published on Friday set a goal of raising up to USD 250 billion per year by 2035, compared to the previous USD 100 billion. A broader goal is a call to increase climate finance to USD 1.3 trillion by 2035. The developing countries' requests were for a much larger amount. The European delegation, supported by a coalition of countries from around the world, insisted that the final documents include texts on reducing carbon emissions, confirming the agreements reached at COP28 in Dubai. A subject of controversy is also a text explicitly mentioning gender equality and human rights.

The last official announcement of the Azerbaijani presidency on Friday was that the conclusions of the conference would be published in the evening, which did not happen.

A survey by the non-governmental organization Carbon Brief, which monitors the negotiation process, outlined Sunday, November 24, morning as the most likely moment for the conference to conclude with at least a minimum consensus.