COP29 was Very Much on Agenda of G20 Summit in Rio, Says UN Chief

Guterres said he urged G20 leaders to instruct their ministers and negotiators to secure a new ambitious climate finance goal at COP29.

Photo: UN News Centre

UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the prominence of COP29 at the G20 Summit in Rio.

“I have just returned from the G20 Summit in Rio. COP29 was very much on the agenda,” Guterres said at a press conference in Baku on Thursday, The Caspian Post reports.

The UN chief said he urged G20 leaders to instruct their ministers and negotiators to secure a new ambitious climate finance goal at COP29.

“And I heard leader after leader stress the importance of concrete success. Delegations, and the COP Presidency, are working hard to find common ground. But, as I said in my opening remarks here, the clock is ticking. I sense an appetite for agreement. To deliver an ambitious and balanced package on all pending issues, with a new finance goal at its heart. Failure is not an option,” he noted.

Guterres underscored the need for an agreement on an ambitious new climate finance goal in Baku.

“A surge in finance is essential to ensure all parties can deliver new national plans aligned with 1.5 degrees – as they must, and to give every government the chance to reap the benefits of clean, cheap renewables and a just energy transition, simultaneously accelerating the reduction of emissions,” the UN chief noted.

“Finance is not a hand-out. It’s an investment against the devastation that unchecked climate chaos will inflict on us all,” Guterres said.

He recalled that last week, multilateral development banks announced a significant boost in climate finance for low- and middle- income countries. “This will reach $120 billion a year by 2030 with another $65 billion mobilised from the private sector. I urge every party to step-up, pick-up the pace, and deliver,” the UN chief emphasized.