India rejects 'stage-managed' climate finance deal

Associated Press Baku (Azerbaijan): India on Sunday fiercely rejected the paltry USD 300 billion climate finance package for the Global South and said the COP29 presidency and the UN climate change office forced through the deal before allowing it to voice its objections. Making a strong statement on behalf of India at the closing plenary of the UN climate conference here, Chandni Raina, Adviser, Department of Economic Affairs, termed the adoption process "unfair" and "stage-managed" and said it reflected the troubling lack of trust in the UN system.

The UN climate conference adopted a new climate finance package of a meagre USD 300 bn annually by 2035, replacing the USD 100 bn pledge made in 2009. The USD 300 billion figure is a far cry from the USD 1.3 trillion the Global South has been demanding over the past three years of talks to tackle climate change. India said its request to speak before the adoption of the climate finance package was ignored.

"We had informed the presidency and the secretariat that we wanted to make a statement before any decision on the adoption. However, and this is for everyone to see, this has been stage-managed, and we are extremely disappointed with this incident," Raina said. "We have seen what you have done. However, we would want to say that gavelling and trying to ignore parties from speaking does not behove of the UNFCCC system," Raina added.