UN climate summit set to go into overtime as talks stall over finance deal

The UN climate summit is set to go into overtime as negotiations to reach a deal on climate finance and emissions stalled on the final day.

Frustrations have intensified at Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where countries are polarised over how much should be paid to poorer countries to cope with climate change, who should contribute and on what timeframe.

The Cop29 presidency – Azerbaijan – has yet to put a provisional figure on the table for parties to debate, leaving an atmosphere of exasperation in the halls.

In a statement released on Friday morning, the presidency said it had “conducted an extensive and inclusive consultation process” into the early hours of the morning to allow all group to respond to the latest proposals released on Thursday morning.

The draft text included two polarised options on a climate finance deal, which many rejected as “unacceptable”.

It emphasised a split between proposals favoured by developing countries already coping with severe climate impacts, and many industrialised nations that will have to pay.

Many also condemned a lack of detail in the proposals on “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems”, amid fears that a new deal could backslide on the landmark agreement from last year.

The Cop29 presidency said it would release the latest proposals by noon local time, but this deadline has passed.

While it is common for UN climate summits to run over, insiders are increasingly bemused by the Cop29 presidency’s handling of the process, complaining that there is a lack of clarity over how it plans to broker a compromise.

Mohamed Adow, director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, overtly criticised Azerbaijan over the state of the stalks.

“This Cop presidency is one of the worst in recent memory and he is overseeing one of the most poorly led and chaotic Cop meetings ever,” he said.

The UK and Brazil were invited to consult countries on their major requests to help find a balance on issues like finance, adaptation and mitigation in a final deal.

It is understood they handed their findings to the Cop29 presidency on Thursday night but whether this will inform a new draft is unclear.

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told a plenary meeting on Thursday that proposals in the current draft “in no way adequately reflect the burden on us all” to deliver ambitious new climate action plans and meet international goals to limit global warming.

He said neither option on finance covered what was needed to reach a “common-ground, ambitious, deliverable goal which will make a genuine difference to the needs and interest of developing countries”.

“We must bridge those differences and for our part in the UK we stand ready to do that.”

Speaking at the summit on Thursday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said “failure is not an option” as the deadlock continued.

He told delegates he sensed an “appetite for agreement” as Cop29 goes “now down to the wire”.

“But let’s be frank, many substantial differences remain,” he said.

“We need a major push to get discussions over the finishing line to deliver an ambitious and balanced package on all pending issues with a new finance goal at its heart.”