At around 3 am on Sunday morning, in a drained plenary, the gavel slammed to bring COP29 to a close. Coming at the end of a convulsive final day in Baku, Azerbaijan, the conclusion of the Conference of the Parties was greeted by applause. It gave way, immediately, to discontent. The conference, whose primary focus was agreeing on a new finance deal to help developing nations with their climate actions, was supposed to end on Friday. But disagreements among the nearly 200 countries over the updated amount of financing to be given delayed the conclusion by 33 hours. The hope had been that developed countries would commit to giving more than $1 trillion a year. Yet by Friday, negotiations had not come anywhere close to that figure. The final extra day was marked by drafts, huddles, and bitter clashes behind closed doors, negotiators having splintered from the main hall into separate smaller rooms following the failure to reach a deal. At 4 pm on Saturday, the door to room number 3...
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