Nations Agree to $300 Billion Deal at Climate Talks

Countries from around the world recently agreed to provide $300 billion to support poor nations in the face of climate change.

The agreement reached on November 24 at the United Nations climate talks in Azerbaijan left many unsatisfied. But some were hopeful that it would be a step in the right direction.

The final deal says that rich countries have agreed to collectively provide at least $300 billion a year by 2035. The amount is much smaller than the $1.3 trillion that developing nations were asking for and that experts said was needed.

Chandni Raina is India's negotiator at the climate talks. She told The Associated Press that the amount of money in the deal was very small. She said, “I'm sorry to say we cannot accept it.”

Nigeria's Nkiruka Maduekwe, head of the National Council on Climate Change, called the deal an insult and a joke.

Ani Dasgupta is head of the environmental organization World Resources Institute. Dasgupta called it "an important down payment toward a safer, more equitable future." However, he added that the poorest countries are "rightfully disappointed” that wealthy nations did not offer more money with billions of lives at risk.

The meeting went on longer than expected because of serious divisions and strong disagreements among countries. But delegations who feel more hopeful about the agreement said this deal is headed in the right direction, with hopes that more money will come in the future.

Eamon Ryan, Ireland's environment minister, called the agreement “a huge relief.” He said in a time of division and war, “the fact that we could get it through in these difficult circumstances is really important.”

Final agreement at climate talks

The final agreement includes a call for parties to work together using "all public and private sources" to get closer to the $1.3 trillion per year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for large international banks to help pay the bill. And it means, hopefully, that companies and private investors will follow by spending their money toward climate action.

The agreement also calls for developing countries that receive money to limit or cut the release of heat-trapping gases. Those targets are to be set early next year. They are part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the U.N. talks in Paris in 2015.

The money will pay for the move away from fossil fuels toward clean energy. It will go to countries hard hit by extreme weather to prepare for floods, storms and fires. It will also go toward improving a farming process to help them survive weather extremes. In areas hit regularly by severe storms, the money can help build stronger homes or help people move to safer places.

The Philippines, for example, has been hit by six major storms in less than a month. Millions of people faced strong winds, rising waters and serious damage to homes, roads and bridges and farmland.

Esther Penunia works with the Asian Farmers Association. She said many farmers had to deal with storm damage such as trees that will not produce fruit for months or years, or animals that died.

I'm Jill Robbins.

Melina Walling reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.

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equitable - adj. dealing fairly and equally with everyone

relief – n. a pleasant and relaxed feeling that someone has when something unpleasant stops or does not happen

circumstances – n.(usually plural) a condition or fact that affects a situation

fossil fuel – n. a fuel (such as coal, oil, or natural gas) that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals