A view during a closing plenary meeting at the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 24. Reuters-Yonhap
Korea voiced hope Monday that a new climate finance deal reached at a recent U.N. summit will help accelerate the implementation of the shared international goals on reducing carbon emissions under the Paris Agreement.
Seoul expressed its expectation as the U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) wrapped up its two weeks of heated talks with a new agreement on setting an annual target for global climate finances in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday (local time).
The new agreement, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, calls for all relevant parties to work to spend more than $1.3 trillion in total annually by 2035 to tackle climate change, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a release.
Of the pledged amount, advanced countries will invest an annual $300 billion, a threefold increase from the original goal agreed upon in 2009.
A heated debate emerged during this year's conference, as developing countries objected to the suggestion from wealthier nations to include their contributions toward the new annual target, a reason why the conference came up with the new deal two days past the initial deadline.
The Paris Agreement calls for capping the global warming increase to 1.5 degrees celcius above the levels from the pre-industrialization period.
"The agreement lays the foundation for the full-scale launch of a transparent and robust international carbon market," the ministry said.
"The agreement is considered a significant turning point in responses to the climate crisis, with practical implementation and cooperation becoming key tasks going forward," it said.
Over 60,000 participants, including those from 198 relevant parties, international organizations, industries and civic groups, attended the conference.
The Korean delegation was led by Environment Minister Kim Wan-sup and Chung Kee-yong, ambassador-at-large for climate change.
Next year's COP 30 is due to take place in Brazil. (Yonhap)