COP29 Summit: Why are world leaders so rigid on climate deal despite global challenges? KEY TAKEAWAYS

This year’s United Nations climate summit delivered a deal on climate finance two days past the deadline, after two weeks of tense negotiations. It’s a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still deeply unsatisfied but some hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction. World Resources Institute president and CEO Ani Dasgupta called it “an important down payment toward a safer, more equitable future,” but added that the poorest and most vulnerable nations are “rightfully disappointed that wealthier countries didn’t put more money on the table when billions of people’s lives are at stake.”

The summit was supposed to end on Friday evening but negotiations spiraled on through early Sunday. With countries on opposite ends of a massive chasm, tensions ran high as delegations tried to close the gap in expectations.

Here are some of the takeaways from the COP29 summit held in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku:

Cash for climate remains tight

The summit’s main agenda item – setting a new annual target for global climate finance – had nations wrangling for two weeks. Even after reaching a deal for $300 billion a year by 2035, many developing countries said the amount was far too low. They also warned that the deadline for a decade away in 2035 would hold back the world’s transition to clean energy. Some including India also lambasted wealthy nations for seeking to include contributions by developing countries in the annual target.

What will the money be spent on?
The deal decided in Baku replaces a previous agreement from 15 years ago that charged rich nations $100 billion a year to help the developing world with climate finance. The new number has similar aims: it will go toward the developing world’s long laundry list of to-dos to prepare for a warming world and keep it from getting hotter. That includes paying for the transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Countries need funds to build up the infrastructure needed to deploy technologies like wind and solar power on a large scale.