Developing countries and threatened island states are demanding billions in climate aid from industrialized nations.
The COP29 in Baku. (Archive image) – Keystone
At the World Climate Conference, dozens of developing countries and island states threatened by the climate crisis turned to industrialized countries with demands worth billions. The alliance of small island states alone – whose existence is sometimes threatened by rising sea levels and more frequent storms – is insisting on annual climate aid of at least 39 billion US dollars.
This was said by its chairman Cedric Schuster, Samoa’s environment minister, at the UN summit in Azerbaijan. He appealed to the representatives of the 200 countries there to continue fighting for ambitious climate protection. “Protect lives, not the profits from fossil fuels!”
Demand for government subsidies instead of loans
The Group of 45 least developed countries, primarily from Africa and Latin America, also expect new, additional and easily accessible climate aid. This was emphasized by its chairman Evans Njewa, Malawi’s environment minister. This involves grants from government funds and not loans, which only increase the high debt burden of many developing countries.
His group of states alone expects to earn at least $1 trillion by 2030. At the UN conference in Baku, which is scheduled to end on November 22nd, all developing countries together demanded that industrialized countries mobilize at least 1,300 billion US dollars per year in climate finance in the future – 13 times more than currently.
The EU states fundamentally recognize that more money needs to flow. But they also want countries like China or the Gulf States to contribute. So far, according to 30-year-old UN logic, they are considered developing states – and therefore recipient countries.
