As COP29 wound up in the early hours of Sunday, India’s fierce objection to the climate finance deal that was the summit’s main outcome showed its resolve to act as a voice for the Global South in wanting more international support to step up climate action, diplomats and policy analysts said.
In a statement described as “bold” and “historic”, India rejected the rushed approval of the new finance goal for 2026-2035, arguing that due process had not been followed, and sought “much higher ambition” from rich nations.
“The Global South is being pushed to transit to no-carbon pathways even at the cost of our growth… other measures are being imposed by developed country parties to make this transition really not easy,” Chandni Raina, an advisor with India’s Department of Economic Affairs, said in an impassioned speech. “This amount is a paltry sum and not something that will enable conducive climate action,” she said of the hard-fought deal on climate finance after it was gavelled through.
Rich nations on Saturday agreed to channel at least $300 billion a year by 2035 for developing countries to ramp up climate action, after bad-tempered talks in which the most vulnerable pushed for a bigger slice of the pie.
Fractious COP29 lands $300bn climate finance goal, dashing hopes of the poorest
The new goal replaces the existing annual target of $100 billion, which was met two years late in 2022 and is widely seen as insufficient to meet rocketing needs among poorer nations for transitioning to clean energy and adapting to extreme weather and rising seas.
In Baku, poorer countries had pushed for that amount to be raised to at least $1 trillion, with most of the money provided as grants.
The far lower final offer of $300 billion, whose provision will be led by rich governments, is part of a wider effort agreed at COP29 to scale up finance to at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 “from all public and private sources”.
“We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfill their responsibilities. We cannot accept it,” Raina told the final plenary, drawing loud cheers. Delegates from Cuba, Nigeria, Malawi and Bolivia also outlined their disappointment and frustration after the decision had been approved.
Champion for the Global South
“It is important when India speaks up. It reflects our views – those of the least developed countries (LDCs),” said Hana Hamadalla of Sudan, who was part of a delegation of least-developed countries that on Saturday walked out of consultations in protest at an earlier version of the deal.
She told Climate Home she found Raina’s emphasis on the $300bn figure not being enough for poor nations to fight climate change “to the point” and reflective of Sudan’s views.
“India has been and wants to continue to be a champion for other Global South developing countries,” said Sandeep Pai, director for research and strategy at Swaniti Global, a social enterprise that works on climate action and policy.
In Baku, wealthy nations first put on the table an annual sum of $250 billion by 2035, which was rejected by climate campaigners and poor countries. They then increased their offer to $300 billion by that date. A high-level group of economists has recommended that level should be reached five years earlier and then raised to $390 billion a year by 2035.
As climate-vulnerable countries, we know what kind of finance we need
India, for its part, had called on rich nations to pledge $600 billion a year in grants. The final deal in Baku – half of that – did not specify how much of the core public finance goal should come as grants and cheap loans.
Pai described the COP29 finance deal as “grim”. “At this point everyone knows money is not coming unless it is for something that would make sense commercially,” he told Climate Home.
With Donald Trump’s election as US president, the money will likely also be less than promised, Pai added, especially if the country withdraws from the Paris climate agreement as Trump has threatened to do.
That could leave a finance hole that European nations, Japan and other wealthy governments may be unwilling to fill, boosting pressure on richer, big-emitting developing countries to dig deeper.
Voluntary contributions
Industrialised countries before and during COP pushed hard to expand the donor base for climate finance to include richer developing countries such as China and oil-rich Gulf states, a proposal fiercely rejected by India, the world’s most populous nation.
“Indian negotiators are articulating a long-held stand, so they (wealthy nations) don’t start counting India as a developed nation, expected to pay,” said Pai.
Analysts said there had been no formal ask for India to join the contributor base for the new goal. But New Delhi has pushed back strongly against changes that could shift the parameters of the global climate agreements governing the negotiations, particularly those that could blur the line on who shoulders the greatest responsibility to act on climate change.
The final deal only “encourages” developing countries to make contributions to the new finance goal “on a voluntary basis”.
But on Sunday, within hours of COP29 finally reaching a deal, Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s special envoy for climate, posted a statement on X saying: “We stand to give more, if those who have grown significantly since 1992 – in wealth and emissions – are ready to step up as well. The target we have put forward demonstrates our seriousness.”
While China, the United States, India and the EU currently make up the world’s largest emitters, India ranks lowest in terms of per-capita emissions, according to World Research Institute analysis. The United States and Russia have the highest per-capita emissions.
India’s Raina told the final CO29 plenary that developing countries are now being seen as contributors to finance climate action, and India was opposed to it.
Less finance, weaker NDCs
In the negotiating rooms in Baku, India led the conversation on the NCQG from the Global South, and its opposition to the agreed goal could signal that developing countries may submit weak national climate plans (NDCs) next year, analysts warned.
Sanjay Vashist, director of Climate Action Network South Asia, said developing countries such as India may not slow down their efforts to adapt to climate shifts, but their actions and ambitions will not be reflected in the NDC they submit.
“We are answerable to domestic monitoring systems not international. Now you are not under obligation,” he said, referring to the shortfall in finance.
India’s strongly worded objection at COP29 was also regarded as significant because it sends a strong signal “that a deal cannot be done” without countries being heard, said Srestha Banerjee, director of just transition at the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iFOREST), a research and policy think-tank.
The critical voices, not just of India but also other countries including Colombia’s environment minister, “should be a wake-up call for rethinking the UNFCCC [process] and how it can truly deliver cooperative action”, Banerjee said.
(Reporting by Roli Srivastava; editing by Megan Rowling)
This article was produced as part of the COP29 Cross-Border Energy Transition Reporting Fellowship, a programme organised by Clean Energy Wire and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
The post India fires warning shot with rejection of finance deal at COP29 appeared first on Climate Home News.
India fires warning shot with rejection of finance deal at COP29
Climate Change
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Blazing heat hits Europe
FANNING THE FLAMES: Wildfires “fanned by a heatwave and strong winds” caused havoc across southern Europe, Reuters reported. It added: “Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares (1,700 square miles) in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006.” Extreme heat is “breaking temperature records across Europe”, the Guardian said, with several countries reporting readings of around 40C.
HUMAN TOLL: At least three people have died in the wildfires erupting across Spain, Turkey and Albania, France24 said, adding that the fires have “displaced thousands in Greece and Albania”. Le Monde reported that a child in Italy “died of heatstroke”, while thousands were evacuated from Spain and firefighters “battled three large wildfires” in Portugal.
UK WILDFIRE RISK: The UK saw temperatures as high as 33.4C this week as England “entered its fourth heatwave”, BBC News said. The high heat is causing “nationally significant” water shortfalls, it added, “hitting farms, damaging wildlife and increasing wildfires”. The Daily Mirror noted that these conditions “could last until mid-autumn”. Scientists warn the UK faces possible “firewaves” due to climate change, BBC News also reported.
Around the world
- GRID PRESSURES: Iraq suffered a “near nationwide blackout” as elevated power demand – due to extreme temperatures of around 50C – triggered a transmission line failure, Bloomberg reported.
- ‘DIRE’ DOWN UNDER: The Australian government is keeping a climate risk assessment that contains “dire” implications for the continent “under wraps”, the Australian Financial Review said.
- EXTREME RAINFALL: Mexico City is “seeing one of its heaviest rainy seasons in years”, the Washington Post said. Downpours in the Japanese island of Kyushu “caused flooding and mudslides”, according to Politico. In Kashmir, flash floods killed 56 and left “scores missing”, the Associated Press said.
- SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION: China and Brazil agreed to “ensure the success” of COP30 in a recent phone call, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
- PLASTIC ‘DEADLOCK’: Talks on a plastic pollution treaty have failed again at a summit in Geneva, according to the Guardian, with countries “deadlocked” on whether it should include “curbs on production and toxic chemicals”.
15
The number of times by which the most ethnically-diverse areas in England are more likely to experience extreme heat than its “least diverse” areas, according to new analysis by Carbon Brief.
Latest climate research
- As many as 13 minerals critical for low-carbon energy may face shortages under 2C pathways | Nature Climate Change
- A “scoping review” examined the impact of climate change on poor sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa | PLOS One
- A UK university cut the carbon footprint of its weekly canteen menu by 31% “without students noticing” | Nature Food
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
Factchecking Trump’s climate report
A report commissioned by the US government to justify rolling back climate regulations contains “at least 100 false or misleading statements”, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists. The report, compiled in two months by five hand-picked researchers, inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed” and misleadingly states that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”80
Spotlight
Does Xi Jinping care about climate change?
This week, Carbon Brief unpacks new research on Chinese president Xi Jinping’s policy priorities.
On this day in 2005, Xi Jinping, a local official in eastern China, made an unplanned speech when touring a small village – a rare occurrence in China’s highly-choreographed political culture.
In it, he observed that “lucid waters and lush mountains are mountains of silver and gold” – that is, the environment cannot be sacrificed for the sake of growth.
(The full text of the speech is not available, although Xi discussed the concept in a brief newspaper column – see below – a few days later.)
In a time where most government officials were laser-focused on delivering economic growth, this message was highly unusual.
Forward-thinking on environment
As a local official in the early 2000s, Xi endorsed the concept of “green GDP”, which integrates the value of natural resources and the environment into GDP calculations.
He also penned a regular newspaper column, 22 of which discussed environmental protection – although “climate change” was never mentioned.
This focus carried over to China’s national agenda when Xi became president.
New research from the Asia Society Policy Institute tracked policies in which Xi is reported by state media to have “personally” taken action.
It found that environmental protection is one of six topics in which he is often said to have directly steered policymaking.
Such policies include guidelines to build a “Beautiful China”, the creation of an environmental protection inspection team and the “three-north shelterbelt” afforestation programme.
“It’s important to know what Xi’s priorities are because the top leader wields outsized influence in the Chinese political system,” Neil Thomas, Asia Society Policy Institute fellow and report co-author, told Carbon Brief.
Local policymakers are “more likely” to invest resources in addressing policies they know have Xi’s attention, to increase their chances for promotion, he added.
What about climate and energy?
However, the research noted, climate and energy policies have not been publicised as bearing Xi’s personal touch.
“I think Xi prioritises environmental protection more than climate change because reducing pollution is an issue of social stability,” Thomas said, noting that “smoggy skies and polluted rivers” were more visible and more likely to trigger civil society pushback than gradual temperature increases.
The paper also said topics might not be linked to Xi personally when they are “too technical” or “politically sensitive”.
For example, Xi’s landmark decision for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is widely reported as having only been made after climate modelling – facilitated by former climate envoy Xie Zhenhua – showed that this goal was achievable.
Prior to this, Xi had never spoken publicly about carbon neutrality.
Prof Alex Wang, a University of California, Los Angeles professor of law not involved in the research, noted that emphasising Xi’s personal attention may signal “top” political priorities, but not necessarily Xi’s “personal interests”.
By not emphasising climate, he said, Xi may be trying to avoid “pushing the system to overprioritise climate to the exclusion of the other priorities”.
There are other ways to know where climate ranks on the policy agenda, Thomas noted:
“Climate watchers should look at what Xi says, what Xi does and what policies Xi authorises in the name of the ‘central committee’. Is Xi talking more about climate? Is Xi establishing institutions and convening meetings that focus on climate? Is climate becoming a more prominent theme in top-level documents?”
Watch, read, listen
TRUMP EFFECT: The Columbia Energy Exchange podcast examined how pressure from US tariffs could affect India’s clean energy transition.
NAMIBIAN ‘DESTRUCTION’: The National Observer investigated the failure to address “human rights abuses and environmental destruction” claims against a Canadian oil company in Namibia.
‘RED AI’: The Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment studied the state of current research on “Red AI”, or the “negative environmental implications of AI”.
Coming up
- 17 August: Bolivian general elections
- 18-29 August: Preparatory talks on the entry into force of the “High Seas Treaty”, New York
- 18-22 August: Y20 Summit, Johannesburg
- 21 August: Advancing the “Africa clean air programme” through Africa-Asia collaboration, Yokohama
Pick of the jobs
- Lancaster Environment Centre, senior research associate: JUST Centre | Salary: £39,355-£45,413. Location: Lancaster, UK
- Environmental Justice Foundation, communications and media officer, Francophone Africa | Salary: XOF600,000-XOF800,000. Location: Dakar, Senegal
- Politico, energy & climate editor | Salary: Unknown. Location: Brussels, Belgium
- EnviroCatalysts, meteorologist | Salary: Unknown. Location: New Delhi, India
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report appeared first on Carbon Brief.
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Climate Change
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
The specter of a “gas-for-wind” compromise between the governor and the White House is drawing the ire of residents as a deadline looms.
Hundreds of New Yorkers rallied against new natural gas pipelines in their state as a deadline loomed for the public to comment on a revived proposal to expand the gas pipeline that supplies downstate New York.
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
A “critical assessment” report commissioned by the Trump administration to justify a rollback of US climate regulations contains at least 100 false or misleading statements, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists.
The report – “A critical review of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the US climate” – was published by the US Department of Energy (DoE) on 23 July, just days before the government laid out plans to revoke a scientific finding used as the legal basis for emissions regulation.
The executive summary of the controversial report inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed”.
It also states misleadingly that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”.
Compiled in just two months by five “independent” researchers hand-selected by the climate-sceptic US secretary of energy Chris Wright, the document has sparked fierce criticism from climate scientists, who have pointed to factual errors, misrepresentation of research, messy citations and the cherry-picking of data.
Experts have also noted the authors’ track record of promoting views at odds with the mainstream understanding of climate science.
Wright’s department claims the report – which is currently open to public comment as part of a 30-day review – underwent an “internal peer-review period amongst [the] DoE’s scientific research community”.
The report is designed to provide a scientific underpinning to one flank of the Trump administration’s plans to rescind a finding that serves as the legal prerequisite for federal emissions regulation. (The second flank is about legal authority to regulate emissions.)
The “endangerment finding” – enacted by the Obama administration in 2009 – states that six greenhouse gases are contributing to the net-negative impacts of climate change and, thus, put the public in danger.
In a press release on 29 July, the US Environmental Protection Agency said “updated studies and information” set out in the new report would “challenge the assumptions” of the 2009 finding.
Carbon Brief asked a wide range of climate scientists, including those cited in the “critical review” itself, to factcheck the report’s various claims and statements.
The post Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims appeared first on Carbon Brief.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-trumps-climate-report-includes-more-than-100-false-or-misleading-claims/
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Spanish-language misinformation on renewable energy spreads online, report shows
-
Climate Change Videos2 years ago
The toxic gas flares fuelling Nigeria’s climate change – BBC News
-
Greenhouse Gases1 year ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change1 year ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Carbon Footprint1 year agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Why airlines are perfect targets for anti-greenwashing legal action
-
Renewable Energy2 months ago
US Grid Strain, Possible Allete Sale
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Some firms unaware of England’s new single-use plastic ban