(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 15 - At the UN Climate Change Conference COP29, discussions on the global climate crisis intensified, with sharp warnings on emissions and rising temperatures taking centre stage. Calls for more climate funding are growing louder, including from the European Union.
    Ticking clock.
    A coalition of leaders from industrialised nations and climate-vulnerable countries called for more ambitious climate funding on Wednesday at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
    The UN says 2024 is about to surpass the climate restriction of temperatures not being 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial average limit, although this does not amount to an immediate breach of the target, which measures temperatures over decades.
    "The sound you hear is the ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And time is not on our side. Unless emissions plummet and adaptation soars, every economy will face far greater fury," said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
    At the summit, the creation of a UN-backed global carbon market has taken a step closer to reality with governments approving new standards for the use of tradable credits to meet climate targets, similar to the European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS). The agreement was hailed as a breakthrough after nearly a decade of complex negotiations over the rules for trading carbon credits.
    However, world leaders offered competing visions on how to tackle climate change and tough talks regarding climate funding ensued.
    Meanwhile, the conference was overshadowed by the re-election of the Republican Donald Trump as president of the United States, who had previously said he would cancel the US' commitments to reduce carbon emissions. The former US president vowed to again pull the country out of the Paris agreement once he is taking over the presidency in January 2025.
    Stark warnings on emissions.
    Planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from oil, gas and coal rose to record highs this year, according to preliminary research from an international network of scientists at the Global Carbon Project - published just as leaders gathered in Baku.
    The research found that to meet the Paris agreement's ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the world now needs to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by the late 2030s - instead of 2050.
    Researchers said increases in CO2 emissions from India as well as growth in international aviation drove emissions up, while emissions decreased in the European Union and the United States.
    This year is "virtually certain" to be the hottest in recorded history with warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said last week. It said the world was passing a "new milestone" of temperature records that should be a call to accelerate action at the UN negotiations to cut planet-heating emissions.
    The European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Iliana Ivanova, reported that a six-fold acceleration of the decarbonisation of economies is needed to meet climate targets. She added that 35 percent of the funding for the Horizon Europe initiative, which totals 93 billion Euro over seven years, is earmarked for climate research.
    Push for more climate funding.
    A small group of developed countries that are currently contributing to help poor nations adapt to climate change want other rich countries and major polluters, including China and the Gulf countries, to join them. According to 30-year-old UN logic, China and the Gulf states are considered developing countries - and are therefore recipients of climate aid.
    As leaders spoke, negotiators released a fresh draft deal on finance that includes a raft of options to raise funding - but leaves unresolved sticking points that have long delayed an agreement.
    Most developing countries favour an annual commitment from wealthy countries of at least 1.3 trillion Dollars. This figure is more than ten times the 100 billion Dollars annually that a small pool of developed countries - among them the US, the EU and Japan - currently pay.
    (continues).
    (The content is based on news by agencies participating in the enr, in this case AFP, ANSA, BTA, dpa, EFE, HINA, MIA, Ritzau, STA, TASR and Tanjug). (ANSA).