Bennett Institute talks to Channel 4 News about COP29 & financing for climate

COP 29 had been dubbed ‘the finance COP’ as the primary focus was supposed to be agreeing  a new global target around how much money wealthy countries would make available to the developing world to address the costs of climate change.

Professor Agarwala, who was on the ground in Baku for events with the IMF and World Bank notes that “expectations were low to begin with, given the lack of interest from the Host Country, the number of governments that changed hands this year, and the outcome of the US election…” but that “whilst an agreement to raise USD$ 300 billion/year is better than nothing, it is still well below the USD$ 1 trillion/year that is really needed.”

In the interview, Professor Agarwala argues that the global community was able to mobilise USD$ 20 trillion to address Covid, and that much of the money needed could be found by repurposing environmentally harmful subsidies for fossil fuels and destructive agricultural practices towards more productive investments in adaptation, resilience, and recovery.

Watch the interview in full which also features Meena Raman, Head of Programmes at 3rd World Network.