Photo : Collected
Nations remain in deadlock over a crucial pact on climate aid, with divisions over who pays, and how much, threatening chances of a deal being landed at next month's COP29 summit.
The UN conference starts just six days after the US election and the possible return of Donald Trump -- who pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement -- looms over the negotiations.
World leaders will attend a two-day gathering at the opening of the summit in Azerbaijan, which faces scrutiny as the latest petrostate with limited tolerance for dissent to host the preeminent annual climate talks.
Organisers say over 50,000 attendees are expected between November 11-22 in the capital Baku.
COP29 has been dubbed a "finance COP" because rich countries most responsible for global warming are supposed to commit to substantially increasing their assistance to poorer countries for climate action.
The current amount of $100 billion a year expires in 2025 and is considered well below what developing nations need.
But major donors, including the European Union and United States, have still not said how much they are willing to pay, resisting pressure to put even a ballpark figure on the table.
They are being urged to turn billions into trillions at COP29, but the appeal for vast new sums of government money comes at a time of political and economic uncertainty for many donors.
Messenger/Disha
