BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) 鈥� With time running down, negotiators at the United Nations annual climate talks on Wednesday returned to the puzzle of finding an agreement to bring to adapt than wealthier countries have shown they're willing to pay.
Vulnerable nations are seeking $1.3 trillion to deal with damage from and , including building out their own clean-energy systems. Experts agree that at least $1 trillion is called for, but both figures are far more than the developed world has so far offered.
Negotiators are fighting over three big parts of the issue: How big the numbers are, how much is grants or loans, and who contributes.
Negotiators relay some progress, but talks go in 鈥榗ircles鈥�
At a session where negotiators relayed their progress Wednesday, Australia鈥檚 climate minister Chris Bowen, one of the ministers leading talks on the money goal, said that he's heard different proposals on how much cash should be in the pot. As well as the $1.3 trillion proposed by developing countries, nations proposed figures of $900 billion, $600 billion and $440 billion, he said.
Diego Pacheco Balanza, the chair of the Like-Minded Group negotiating bloc, said the group was also hearing a figure of $200 billion in negotiating corridors. That's not enough, he said.
鈥淒eveloped countries whose legal obligations it is to provide finance continue to shift their responsibility to developing countries,鈥� Pacheco Balanza said.
But European climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra said "it is important to determine the elements first, so that you can have an informed conversation about what an ambitious and also realistic number could be.鈥�
Juan Pablo Hoffmaister of the Environmental Defense Fund said 鈥渢he frustration is palpable鈥� as time starts to run out.
Hoffmaister, who's a former negotiator for developing countries, said that while potential climate finance goals are finally out, it鈥檚 still unclear how they will be delivered 鈥� loans, grants or other means. 鈥淲e need to fix this over the next 72 hours,鈥� he said.
There appeared to be some positivity on working through other issues at the talks.
South Africa's climate minister Dion George 鈥� one of two ministers leading talks on how to cut fossil fuels 鈥� said that 鈥渁ll parties confirmed their commitment to delivering on the Dubai consensus reached last year鈥� .
And New Zealand's climate minister Simon Watts was also 鈥渧ery encouraged鈥� by movement on so-called , a proposal to slash emissions through, among other things, that allow nations to pollute if they offset emissions elsewhere.
But a lot was still left to work out.
Alden Meyer of the European think tank E3G summed up the state of negotiations on Wednesday by saying the word of the day at the talks is 鈥渃ircle鈥� as in going around in circles."
Amid world conflict, ministers push for climate action
Also Wednesday, ministers addressed the venue's main plenary hall to push for a strong outcome at the talks and slammed wars around the world for their devastating impact on communities and the environment.
鈥淕lobal military spending stands at 2.5 trillion annually. For some $2.5 trillion dollars to kill each other, it鈥檚 not enough, but one trillion to save lives is unreasonable,鈥� said Panama Climate Envoy Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez. 鈥淐ausing our own extinction is the most ridiculous thing. At least the dinosaurs had an asteroid. What is our excuse?鈥�
Nisreen Tamimi, chairperson of the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority warned of 鈥渆cocide鈥� after over a year of Israeli bombardment in Gaza. 鈥淧rotection of the environment is actually not an ancillary issue, it is not a secondary option, it is a basic right that is related to all of us as human beings,鈥� she said.
Ukraine's environment minister Svitlana Grynchuk also called attention to the damage of forest fires in the country. 鈥淣ature knows no borders,鈥� she said.
Meanwhile, half the world away in Rio, Brazil, where the Group of 20 summit wrapped up on Tuesday, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the group of the world鈥檚 largest economies that 鈥渢he success of COP29 is largely in your hands.鈥�
鈥淭hat goal, the financial goal, in its different layers, must meet the needs of developing countries, beginning with a significant increase in concessional public funds,鈥� he said.
And the president of Brazil, Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva, forward to 2040 or 2045.
鈥淭he G20 is responsible for 80% of greenhouse effect emissions,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven if we are not walking the same speed, we can all take one more step.鈥�
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Melina Walling, Sibi Arasu And Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press
