LDCs Group shows reservation over NCQG draft; yet hope for consensus tonight

Kathmandu, Nov 23: The Group of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including Nepal, has expressed reservations over the draft of climate finance provisions unveiled in the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).

The dissatisfaction has been articulated, noting the draft unveiled in the 29th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) underway in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, did not explicitly manifest the agendas, such as increasing the volume of climate finance.

Though COP29 was scheduled to conclude on Friday itself, lobbying from the LDCs was still going on today since all the points of their ‘agenda’ have yet to be agreed upon. The Group of LDCs, G77, and China are currently pressing on rich and developed countries to implement the NCQG agenda.

Chief of the Climate Management Division under the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Dr. Sindhu Prasad Dhungana, who is attending the climate summit in Baku, said that some of the points unveiled regarding the NCQG were not clear.

“There has been a demand from the LDCs and other groups that the rich and developing countries should increase the size of climate finance to 250 billion annually after 2026. But the draft of the NCQG has mentioned the timeline up to 2035.

Is it going to increase after 2034? The draft does not stipulate how much money will be raised,” he commented. Advocacy is constantly going on in the COP putting pressure on the developed countries to expand the size of climate finance, Dhungana said, adding some positive results are expected by tonight.

Dhungana shared that the inclusion of NCQG in the COP agenda, especially mountain-based work, and the global stocktake process of reviewing efforts made to prevent climate change around the world in line with the Paris Agreement are some positive aspects of COP29.

In a press release, LDCs Group Chair Evans Njewa stated that financial support was not at the level of necessary ambition. “This undermines the current commitment of developed nations and does not reflect the ambition needed for global climate actions. Our group is disappointed to see that the draft does not reflect our hard work of three years”.

He went on to say that it does not take into account the issues of the most vulnerable countries, especially least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing countries (SIDS).

The proposed climate finance volume is far below the requirement and does not ensure minimum funding for the LDC, and the draft does not include new targets to address climate-related damage, the LDC said. —RSS