Australia urged to do more on climate crisis as activists rue trillion-dollar Cop29 funding gap

Wealthy nations agree to take the lead in helping developing countries shift to a low-carbon economy

The Australian government has been urged to “step up” and do more to address the climate crisis after a major UN summit ended with a global finance agreement that developing countries criticised for not going far enough.

The Cop29 talks in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku ended at 4am on Sunday with a consensus agreement that developing countries would be paid at least US$300bn (A$460bn) a year in global climate finance by 2035 to help them shift to a low-carbon economy and adapt to the impacts of extreme weather.

Wealthy nations, including Australia, agreed to “take the lead” in getting there. But they acknowledged developing countries actually needed at least US$1.3tn (A$2tn) a year.

The countries agreed to work together to find a way to achieve the higher target. It could include funding from private investors and potential new taxes on, for example, shipping and aviation.

The $1.3tn was based on a calculation by leading economists but many activists demanded more – as much as US$7tn a year – based on wealthy nations’ historic responsibility for rising damage caused by global heating.

The agreement cleared a final plenary session 34 hours after the scheduled close of the summit but some developing countries responded with fury, calling it not just a failure but a betrayal.

It may not have been accepted had the Azeri Cop29 president, Mukhtar Babayev, not gavelled it through before India could express its objection. India’s delegate, Chandni Raina, said the deal was an “optical illusion” and suggested the country would have blocked it given the chance.

Australia’s climate change minister, Chris Bowen, was a co-facilitator leading negotiations with nearly 200 countries on the design before making recommendations to the Azeri hosts. Bowen left before the final plenary on a pre-booked flight to return to Australia for parliament on Monday. Australia was represented by diplomats in the final stages.

Erin Ryan, a senior international campaigner at Climate Action Network Australia, said Cop29 had “ended as it ran”, held hostage by the interest of high-income countries and a petrostate host.

She said an annual goal of US$300bn might sound big “but when spread globally for what is required to transition, it leaves us where we started: with low-income countries struggling to shoulder the rising costs of a climate crisis they never caused”.

She added: “As a wealthy nation, and a huge fossil fuel exporter, the Australian government notably failed to drive bigger ambition. This is about realism. Getting better financial arrangements is key to getting global support for rapid fossil-fuel phase-out globally.”

The deal does not commit the Australia government to paying a particular amount. It has been sharply criticised for what Climate Action Tracker called “insufficient” climate finance commitments to date – A$3bn between 2020 and 2025. It was praised for committing A$50m to a loss and damage fund during the summit.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s head of advocacy, Susie Byers, said given that Australia was bidding to host a UN climate summit in 2026 with Pacific countries it had both “a responsibility and a strong interest in stepping up”. That meant the government presenting a climate plan early next year that would play the country’s part in aiming to limit global heating, she said.

“Australia must also honour the spirit of [last year’s] commitment to transition away from fossil fuels and replace its exports of coal and gas with renewable energy,” she said.

Richie Merzian, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Investor Group and a former climate diplomat, said a more ambitious finance deal was warranted but the end result was a “practical outcome” and Bowen deserved credit for his role.

“Now we need to get on with action to build the renewables, implement the transition and turn our complete attention to developing 2035 emission reduction targets due next year,” he said.

The Australian government had hoped to win the rights to host Cop31 in November 2026 during the Baku summit, but a decision under the UN’s consensus process was deferred after the other contender, Turkey, resisted pressure to step aside.

The agreement in Baku sets a deadline for the decision of June 2025, when climate diplomats meet in Bonn, Germany, but it could drag on until Cop30 in Brazil next November.

In a post on Bluesky reflecting on Cop29, Bowen posted a picture of himself talking with the UN secretary-general, António Guterres. He said “tackling climate change is in our national interest and getting climate finance right is vital for our nearest neighbours in the Pacific”.

“This Cop wasn’t easy, but it was important,” he said. “We also welcome the very strong ongoing support for Australia to host Cop31.”

Cover photo: Developing countries condemn 'insufficient' Cop29 deal