COP29 U.N. Summit: Civil society protests against climate finance proposal, calls for 'no deal' over 'bad deal'

Civil society protests $250 billion climate finance proposal at U.N. summit, urging developing nations to reject the unjust deal.

Civil society members staged a silent march at the U.N. climate summit, condemning the developed nations' proposal to increase annual climate finance to a meagre $250 billion by 2035. 

They called on the developing world to reject what they described as an "insulting" and "unjust" deal.  

With their arms crossed in defiance, protesters walked silently through the summit venue, where chanting is prohibited

"We urge you to stand up for the people of the Global South, and we insist: no deal in Baku is better than a bad deal, and this is a very, very bad deal because of the intransigence of developed countries," said Climate Action Network (CAN), a global coalition of more than 1,900 civil society organisations, in a letter to G77 and China, the largest bloc of developing nations

The letter urged negotiators to abandon weak agreements, saying, "If nothing sufficiently strong is forthcoming at this COP, we urge you to walk away from the table to fight another day, and we will fight the same fight."

Shailendra Yashwant, senior advisor at CAN South Asia, denounced the proposal, saying, “The NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance) number of $250 billion in the latest ministerial text is not a joke, it's an insult to the people of the Global South salvaging their belongings and trying to rebuild their lives from floods, heatwaves, cyclones, landslides or forest fires and other climate change-induced disasters.”

Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, called the proposal "a disgrace".