UN climate chief asks G20 leaders for boost as finance talks lag

Valerie Volcovici - Reuters - 16/11
The U.N.'s climate chief called on leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday to send a signal of support for global climate finance efforts when they meet in Rio de Janeiro next week.
  • Stiell urges G20 to support climate finance with grants, loans, and debt relief
  • Business groups also call for policies supporting shift from fossil fuels to clean energy
  • Negotiators at COP29 struggle to reach agreement on finance target
BAKU, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The U.N.'s climate chief called on leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday to send a signal of support for global climate finance efforts when they meet in Rio de Janeiro next week.
The plea, made in a letter to G20 leaders from UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, comes as negotiators at the COP29 conference in Baku struggle in their negotiations for a deal intended to scale up money to address the worsening impacts of global warming.
"Next week's summit must send crystal clear global signals," Stiell said in the letter.
He said the signal should support an increase in grants and loans, along with debt relief, so vulnerable countries "are not hamstrung by debt servicing costs that make bolder climate actions all but impossible".
Business leaders echoed Stiell's plea, saying they were concerned about the "lack of progress and focus in Baku".
"We call on governments, led by the G20, to meet the moment and deliver the policies for an accelerated shift from fossil fuels to a clean energy future, to unlock the essential private sector investment needed," said a coalition of business groups, including the We Mean Business Coalition, United Nations Global Compact and the Brazilian Council for Sustainable Develop...
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