Baku, Azerbaijan - November 11, 2024 Ministers of Environment are meeting this week at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP29, in Azerbaijan's capital Baku to finalize the new global climate finance goal. As the conference enters its critical second half on Monday, delegations from around 200 Paris Agreement signing parties have been working on the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), a new finance initiative to succeed the COP15 goal of having developed countries to mobilize 100 billion U.S. dollars to support climate action in developing countries. But there is still "a ton of work to do" to ensure COP29 and the NCQG delivery, according to a news release held by the COP29 presidium and the UNFCCC secretariat on Monday. One of the major contentious issues is that, certain developed countries regard climate finance as charities and attempted to involve larger developing economies into obliged contributors as a prerequisite to scale up climate finance in the first week of negotiations. Despite the complaints, the original 100 billion dollar goal was not achieved until 2022, with only a minor portion going to low-income countries and a quarter to Africa, according to the United Nations. With time running out for COP29 to present a final plan and the world to achieve the 1.5-degree climate target, countries must take rapid and solid actions to address the imminent global challenge. Shotlist: Baku, Azerbaijan - Nov 11, 2024: 1. Various of COP29 venue; Baku, Azerbaijan - Nov 18, 2024 2. COP29 presidium, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat press release in process; 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary: "I've been very blunt, climate finance is not charity, it is a hundred percent in every nation's interest to protect their economies and people from rampant climate impacts."; 4. Various of posters of COP29, saying "COP29: Mobilizing funds and enabling action to keep 1.5ºC within reach"; participants walking; 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ama Ethel, chief negotiator, African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN): "A good finance shall move us into a just transition, just and equitable transition I must add."; 6. Various of participants looking at guiding screen; 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary: "The bottom line is we're a long way from halving global emissions this decade, so progress at COP29 is absolutely essential. And we must help countries to pick up the pace over this final week."; Baku, Azerbaijan - Nov 11, 2024 8. Various of national flag of Azerbaijan, UN flag; 9. Banners outside COP29 venue. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]