November 23, 2024, 6:56 p.m.

Island nations vulnerable to climate change and some African countries consecutively withdrew from COP29 over funding concerns.

Climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, are nearing completion after being extended from yesterday.

Representatives of a group of more than 77 countries vulnerable to climate change have walked out of the negotiations.

They want $500 billion in funding each year to help them adapt and become resilient in the face of a changing environment.

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But the latest version of the deal was only worth $250 billion.

The proposal would be double the previous goal of $100 billion, but still falls short of the $1.3 trillion annually required, experts say.

Samoa’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Toeolesulusulu, Cedric Schuster, is a representative of the group who walked out of the negotiations on Saturday.

Mr Schuster said: “We are here to negotiate but we have walked away… at the moment we don’t feel like we are being heard.”

He later said: “We want nothing more than to continue to engage, but the process must be INCLUSIVE.

“If this cannot be the case, it becomes very difficult for us to continue our involvement here at COP29.”

Evans Njewa, who chairs a group of more than 40 third world countries, said the offer is “unacceptable to us. We need to talk to other developing countries and decide what to do.”