RICH COUNTRIES RAISE CLIMATE FINANCE OFFER TO $300 BILLION ANNUALLY AT COP29

Baku, Azerbaijan - In a sudden turn of events, wealthy countries raised their offer of climate finance to $300 billion annually at the COP29 summit on Saturday, raising hopes of a deal with developing nations that had dismissed an earlier proposal as insufficient to address the impacts of global warming.

The two-week conference, which brought together nearly 200 countries, aimed to find a consensus on the contentious funding plan for the next decade. After months of intense negotiations, the industrialized countries finally agreed to increase their climate finance commitment, exceeding the initial target of $250 billion per year proposed by Azerbaijan.

The decision was seen as a positive sign by many, but it remains unclear whether developing countries will ultimately accept the higher offer. Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad expressed optimism on Saturday, saying that he expected a deal would be reached tonight.

European governments had previously demanded that other countries join them in paying into the climate finance goal, including China and oil-rich Gulf states. The European Union has now announced its support for the increased target, with five sources confirming that they had agreed to accept the higher amount of $300 billion annually by 2035.

The United States, Australia, and Britain are also reportedly on board, which could be a significant boost to the negotiations. However, there have been past failures to meet climate finance obligations, making developing countries wary of new promises.

Representatives from the least developed countries and small island nations blocs walked out of a negotiating room in frustration at one point on Saturday afternoon, but said they remained committed to finding a deal. Their statement said that "the process must be inclusive" and that they want nothing more than to continue engaging.

The COP29 summit also made progress on other critical questions, including the rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits. However, much work remains to be done to meet the broader goal of raising $1.3 trillion in climate finance annually by 2035.

As the talks drew to a close, Marina Silva, Brazil's minister of environment and climate change, emphasized the need for a concrete outcome. She said that her country was pushing for even more funding, with an annual commitment of $390 billion by 2035.

The future of climate finance is now uncertain, but one thing is clear - this pivotal moment marks an important turning point in the global response to global warming.