Rich countries failing 'moral test' at COP29, says ActionAid

Anderson expressed concern that rather than increasing their climate finance contributions, wealthy nations are redefining what qualifies as climate finance. “Instead of actually increasing their climate finance contributions, rich countries just want to increase what counts as climate finance,” she said. “With all the loans and corporate investment being pushed into this new goal, this text could end up being a pretext for corporate profit under a climate veneer.”

The current negotiations and draft texts at COP29 have drawn criticism for potentially allowing corporate interests to overshadow the urgent need for substantial, grant-based climate finance. Anderson emphasized the necessity of COP29 delivering trillions in grants annually to support urgent climate action globally.

“The whole world needs COP29 to deliver trillions in grants every year for urgent climate action,” she concluded.