AFRICA AT @COP29_AZ: GROUP RELUCTANTLY WELCOMES CLIMATE FINANCE DEAL In the early hours of Sunday, 24th November, 2023, two days after scheduled closure of COP29, Parties finally agreed the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), replacing the 100 billion goal that was set and agreed in 2009. After a frustrating additional two days beyond scheduled closure, and frantic efforts to salvage the almost collapsing talks, a compromise USD 300 billion climate finance deal was agreed. African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) Chair, Ali Mohamed did not hold back the group’s frustrations during the closing plenary, labelling the deal “too little, too late, and too ambiguous in its delivery.” “At this COP, we achieved progress in some respects, but we appear to be regressing in others,” said Ambassador Mohamed. “Let it be clear that, the agreed figure of $300 billion per annum is an inadequate amount, which has to be reviewed in 2030 and revised upward in line with needs of developing countries.” “Africa stands here with a sense of realism and resignation. Delivery of the aims of the Convention and its Paris Agreement remain deeply uncertain. We are realistic about the journey ahead. But let us remember that these commitments are not acts of charity. They are acts of survival, shared prosperity, and solidarity. Climate finance is not a handout – it is the moral and economic imperative of our age. As I close, I remind us all of the southern African concept of Ubuntu: I am because you are. When Africa loses, the world loses—its critical minerals, its biodiversity, its stability. When Africa thrives, the world thrives with it,” concluded Ambassador Mohamed in his closing statement. Coming into COP29, Africa had clearly outlined its priorities, top of which were a climate finance deal with a 1.3 trillion quantum and adaptation support for the over 1.4 billion Africans suffering the vagaries of the climate crisis @ClimateEnvoyKe @ECA_OFFICIAL @WMO @AfDB_Group @CGIARclimate @CGIARAfrica @Oxfam @ConservationOrg @UNmigration @_AfricanUnion @UNFCCC @UNEP @RoseMwebaza @AfricaAAI @Amref_Worldwide @DestaLakew @martinmuchangi @daktari1 @AfricanClimate @adomfeh @friphiri @Afsafrica @PACJA1