As COP29 starts, what is Canada’s role in climate finance negotiations?

This year's international climate talks are expected to be headlined by fraught negotiations over how wealthy countries should compensate other nations in the climate change fight.

This year’s international climate talks are expected to be headlined by fraught negotiations over how Canada and other wealthy countries, who have contributed a disproportionate share of planet-warming emissions, should financially compensate other nations in their fight to tackle climate change.

Many pressing questions for negotiators are on the table: How much should those wealthy countries pay? Which countries will have to contribute? And how should the money be provided?

The answers may determine just how much money developing countries could receive for everything from renewable energy projects to wetlands conservation.

Failure to achieve a new goal at the United Nation’s annual climate talks may undercut confidence in major international agreements and strike a blow against efforts to limit global warming, observers say.

“It’s pretty high stakes,” said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, a Berlin-based climate think tank.

Here’s what you need to know about the climate finance negotiations – and Canada’s role in them – as the 29th annual United Nations climate conference, or COP29, kicks off in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

The UN climate talks have recognized that wealthy and historically high-emitting countries have a greater responsibility to solve the problem of climate change.

To put it in perspective, Canada and 22 other high-income countries – among them, the United States, Japan, Australia and Western European nations – are responsible for about half of estimated global emissions since the mid-19th century, despite making up about 12 per cent of the population. On a per-capita basis, Canada is among the most polluting countries.