'Brinksmanship' could sink COP29 finance deal, UN climate chief warns as EU softens stance on China

Governments must hurry to clear uncontentious points of disagreement and make space to conclude a deal on financing the energy transition in developing countries, the head of the UN body that oversees global climate talks has urged.

“Bluffing, brinksmanship, and pre-mediated playbooks burn up precious time and run down the goodwill needed for an ambitious package,” UN climate chief Simon Stiell told the opening plenary session of the second week of COP29 this morning.

His remarks came as ministers gathered in the Azerbaijani capital to move talks to the political level after week one ended in an apparent stalemate.

The whole COP climate process could stall or go into reverse if governments “dig in and refuse to move on one issue, until others move elsewhere” with just five days of scheduled negotiations left, Stiell warned.

“This is a recipe for going literally nowhere. And could set global climate efforts back at a time when we simply must be moving forward,” he said, calling on negotiators to “cut the theatrics”.

The European Union made clear ahead of the COP that it wants to see countries like China and some Gulf states, stepping up to the plate. Their economies have boomed since the climate talks in the 1990s and China is now the world's biggest annual greenhouse gas emitter.

“Public finance should remain at the core of the NCQG,” the EU’s lead negotiator said, asserting that the bloc has always paid more than its fair share of the global total.

“With affluence comes responsibility,” climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters in Baku after the week’s first round of talks.

But the EU has apparently conceded that it will not make any binding commitments.

“A potential solution could be to…move into a space of voluntary