'Complete disaster': Rich nations' climate finance proposal draws Greta Thunberg's fury

Baku: Renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg has lambasted the draft text on a new climate finance package for the developing world at COP29, calling it "a complete disaster" and a "death sentence" for millions vulnerable to the climate crisis. Her comments came as this year's UN climate conference in Baku, originally scheduled to end on Friday, spilt into overtime, and negotiations dragged on overnight.

The climate finance draft released on Friday contained developed countries' proposal to increase annual climate finance to $250 billion by 2035, a figure sharply criticised by activists and developing nations alike.

In a scathing post on X (formerly Twitter), Thunberg wrote: "As the COP29 climate meeting is reaching its end, it should not come as a surprise that yet another COP is failing. The current draft is a complete disaster."

She said it was yet another betrayal by those in power. "The people in power are yet again about to agree to a death sentence to the countless people whose lives have been or will be ruined by the climate crisis... The current text is full of false solutions and empty promises," she said.

The Swedish climate activist accused Global North countries of failing to pay back their "climate debt", pointing out that critical financial contributions from these nations remain absent. This year’s negotiations occur against the backdrop of what is likely to be the hottest year on record, with global greenhouse gas emissions hitting an all-time high last year.

Thunberg expressed frustration with the COP process, accusing it of being complicit in perpetuating injustice. "The COP processes aren’t just failing us, they are part of a larger system built on injustice and designed to sacrifice current and future generations for the opportunity of a few to keep making unimaginable profits and continue to exploit the planet and people," she said.

At the UN climate conference in Baku, countries are required to reach an agreement on a new climate finance package to help developing countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the warming world.

Developing nations have been demanding at least $1.3 trillion annually -- 13 times the $100 billion pledged in 2009 -- starting in 2025 to address their escalating climate challenges.  They have said that a significant portion of this $1.3 trillion should come directly from public funding from developed countries.

On Friday, developing countries flayed the $250 billion proposal, calling it grossly insufficient.

Civil society members held a silent march at the summit venue at night, asking developed countries, which built their economies on fossil fuels and are responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, to "pay up". Experts have highlighted the lack of grants, low-cost finance, and specific allocations for the most vulnerable nations.