Little climate progress at key meet

A key meeting ahead of the UN COP29 climate summit ended on Friday in frustration with countries making little progress over how to fund a new finance deal for poorer nations.

Delegates were urged to put aside differences and move negotiations forward during the two-day "pre-COP" in Azerbaijan, which is hosting the major climate talks in November.

Not all countries were represented so smaller gains, rather than concrete breakthroughs, were hoped for during the Baku meet.

But the gathering wrapped with nations no closer to resolving the same sticking points that have hindered the talks for months, attendees told AFP.

"Despite some hopeful talk of coming together, countries remain quite far apart," said Iskander Erzini Vernoit, co-founder and director at the IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development, who was present in Baku. At COP29, countries are supposed to agree on a new goal for "climate finance" that meets the needs of the world's poorest countries in dealing with global warming.