COP29 closing: Pennies for climate finance, billions in false solutions, complicity in genocide

As the UNFCCC climate talks (COP29) close, Friends of the Earth International calls out the hypocrisy of rich countries in failing to deliver on climate finance whilst fueling a genocide and promoting harmful carbon markets.

“The supposed ‘COP of climate finance’ has turned into the ‘COP of false solutions’. The terrible deal on finance destroys the notion of historical responsibility of the rich big polluting countries and pushes private debt creating finance. Global North countries are no longer obligated to provide finance to the Global South as enshrined in the Paris Agreement. COP29 also put a final nail in the coffin, opening the door to the global carbon market and the disastrous impacts for communities and ecosystems. We have seen the impacts of these schemes: land grabs, Indigenous Peoples rights and human rights violations and more.”  

Kirtana Chandrasekaran
Friends of the Earth International

COP29 was supposed to deliver the climate finance needed for adaptation, loss and damage, and the just energy transition. Instead, it saw the usual power games of rich countries desperate to shirk their historical responsibilities.

“The commitments of rich countries on climate finance are an insult to developing nations. A so-called road map, brokered by the US and other developed countries desperate to escape their obligations, ensures nothing in terms of the delivery of climate finance for the South. It should have been public finance from the North with a strong focus on public grants. Meanwhile, they expect developing countries to show greater ambition on mitigation and adaptation. This is a joke. Rich countries are abdicating their responsibilities under the Paris Agreement and playing with the lives of the poor while wrecking the planet.”

Meena Raman
Sahabat Alam Malaysia / Friends of the Earth Malaysia

“Without adequate climate finance, Africa’s vulnerability to climate change will worsen. Communities already grappling with poverty and inequality will face escalating challenges as they struggle to adapt to climate impacts. For countries already burdened by debt, responding to these challenges will mean diverting resources from critical services like healthcare and education, which further deepens inequality.”

Kholwani Simelane
Friends of the Earth Africa

The failure to deliver on climate finance stands in sharp contrast to the military spending of these same countries fueling the genocide in Palestine. At COP29 Friends of the Earth International and others mobilised to shine a light on this hypocrisy, continuing to express our unwavering and unequivocal solidarity with Palestinians.

On a backdrop of heightened corporate capture – with the COP29 Chief Executive found to arrange fossil fuel deals during the Conference, and more than 1770 fossil fuel lobbyists roaming the halls – it is no surprise to see this COP further enshrine false solutions. Despite these conditions and the strict restrictions imposed on activists at the event, civil society was able to make itself heard.

“COP29 has also been characterised by the strengthening of the articulation of movements from around the world to secure real climate action rooted in justice. We’re on the road now to COP30, developing a critical, transformative and emancipatory long term environmental agenda. Local groups in Brazil are already organising, peoples and communities are building and we’ll be there together, louder and stronger to demand climate justice.”

Linda González
Censat Agua Viva / Friends of the Earth Colombia

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Media contact

Ghislaine Fandel // ghislaine@foei.org // @FoEint // in Baku 9-16 November // Remote 17-23 November