Unpacking India's fuming response at COP29: What really transpired?
India were fast asleep, a drama unfolded at a sprawling conference hall of the Olympic stadium in Azerbaijan's capital Baku. Diplomats from nearly 200 countries, civil society representatives and journalists had gathered to witness a decision that could determine the fate of climate action in the Global South. But what transpired was far from routine — it was a moment of diplomatic brinkmanship that left many stunned and India's delegation fuming.
As the president of this year's UN climate conference, Mukhtar Babayev, approached the centrepiece agenda item — the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance — India's Deputy Lead Negotiator Neelesh Sah rushed to COP29 Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev to convey that the country wants to make a statement before the adoption of the contentious decision.
Around 2:30 am, without so much as a pause for objections or comments, Babayev hammered the gavel, declaring the USD 300 billion climate-finance package adopted. The move was so swift, it left delegates from many developing countries blinking in disbelief.
Avantika Goswami, head of the Climate Change Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment, said it happened «quite suddenly and unceremoniously».
«We were surprised because the last-known figure on the table — USD 300 billion — was far below the latest G77 compromise of USD 500 billion. We also knew that India was preparing to interject in the process. The fact that it was passed before any such objections were raised came as a surprise,» she said.
