The UN’s most senior climate official has said “torrents not trickles” of finance are needed if the world is to achieve its Cop goals.
In a keynote speech in Baku, Azerbaijan, which will host the Cop29 UN Climate Conference in November, Simon Stiell said it will take an “Olympian effort” over the next two years to get the world back on track with its climate-change promises.
Mr Stiell, head of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, said finance will be crucial and he envisages that more than $2.4 trillion will be needed so the commitments made at Cop28 in Dubai can be met.
The talks in Dubai ended with a compromise agreement that the world should “transition away from fossil fuels”.
Alongside deals on expanding low-carbon energy, the pledges of Cop28 are set to keep hopes alive of curbing global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
To build on the success of Dubai, Mr Stiell said the Olympic motto “faster, higher, stronger” should be Cop’s motto.