George brands COP29 decisions ‘a win’ for SA

It comes after the world approved a bitterly negotiated climate deal Sunday, but poorer nations most at the mercy of worsening disasters dismissed a $300 billion a year pledge from wealthy historic polluters as insultingly low.

After two exhausting weeks of chaotic bargaining and sleepless nights, nearly 200 nations pushed through the contentious finance pact in the early hours in a sports stadium in Azerbaijan.

In a statement on Monday, George said the agreement on carbon markets will allow South Africa and other developing economy countries to initiate new carbon market projects, which will facilitate investments in green technologies and economic opportunities.

“There have been complaints from other parties about the leadership of the COP29 Presidency and that the decisions were not reached through full consensus. 

“However, for South Africa, the decisions that were adopted were a win. While we understand the frustration expressed by some parties, we do see the outcomes as a significant step in the right direction as it is more than what we had going into the negotiations, and we can now build on that, especially given that South Africa will be the next President of the G20,” said Minister George.

Some countries had accused Azerbaijan, an oil and gas exporter, of lacking the will to meet the moment in a year defined by costly climate disasters and on track to become the hottest on record.

Nations had struggled at COP29 to reconcile long-standing divisions over how much-developed nations most accountable for historic greenhouse gas pollution should provide to poorer countries least responsible but most impacted by Earth's rapid warming.

The meeting also saw stalling on the promise to "transition away" from fossil fuels, the main driver of global heating.

That pledge, a key achievement of COP28 in Dubai, was scrubbed from the final Baku deal.

The Least Developed Countries bloc of 45 nations slammed the COP29 outcome as a "travesty", adding that it failed to make progress on curbing warming or deliver enough cash to protect the most vulnerable.

Nations have agreed to try to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times. According to the UN, the world is currently on track for devastating warming of between 2.6C and 3.1C this century.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had "hoped for a more ambitious outcome" and appealed to governments to see it as a starting point.

Developed countries only put the $300 billion figure on the table on Saturday after COP29 went into extra time and diplomats worked through the night to improve an earlier spurned offer. 

*Additional reporting by AFP 

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