The head of the UAE delegation, Deputy Minister of State for Energy and Sustainability Abdulla Balalaa, participates in the discussions, which underscore the UAE’s commitment to advancing water issues on the international agenda. — Wam

A draft new climate agreement unveiled at COP29 on Thursday failed to break the impasse over money; Time is running out for countries to reach a trillion-dollar financial agreement that they have long sought.

The UN climate summit in Azerbaijan is expected to conclude on Friday, but the final draft only underlines divisions as countries return to the negotiating table.

“As for the text in general, I will not exaggerate it; it is clearly unacceptable in its current form,” said Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s climate commissioner.

“I’m sure there isn’t a single ambitious country that thinks this is good enough.”

Nearly 200 countries in Baku are expected to agree on a new target to replace the $100 billion a year that rich countries have pledged to poor countries to combat climate change.

Many developing countries are pushing for $1.3 trillion, most of it from government coffers, but rich countries have opposed such demands and insisted private money would help meet the end goal.

The latest draft acknowledges that developing countries need a commitment of at least “(X) trillion US dollars” per year, leaving out the exact figure sought in Baku.

Ali Mohamed, chairman of the African Negotiating Group, a major negotiating bloc, said the “elephant in the room” was the missing concrete number.

“This is why we are here… but we are not any closer and we need developed countries to address this issue urgently,” said Mohamed, who is also Kenya’s climate ambassador.

Other key sticking points, such as who contributed and how the money was collected and distributed, were left unresolved in the condensed 10-page document.

Many countries also expressed concern that the promise to move away from fossil fuels made at last year’s COP28 was ignored in Baku.

Ireland’s Climate Minister Eamon Ryan insisted talks on finance were “progressing” in backroom discussions.

“This text is not the final text, that’s clear. It will be quite radically different. But I think there is room for further agreement,” he told AFP.

Norway’s climate minister also offered a more positive view: “The deadline has not come yet,” he told AFP.

The draft solidifies the broad, opposing positions of developed and developing countries that have largely persisted since COP29 opened a week ago.

Developed countries want all sources of financing, including public money and private investment, to be included in the target, and for rich countries such as China, which do not have to pay, to also contribute.

COP29 chief negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev told AFP last week that the rule of climate talks is that everyone leaves “equally unhappy”.