US-UAE government climate initiative pledges to double investment amid fierce COP29 criticism

A co-led partnership between the United Arab Emirates and the US government has confirmed it will invest US$29.2 billion to build “climate-smart agricultural food systems” to tackle climate crisis, global hunger and food insecurity.

The move by the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) — “the largest global coalition at the intersection of food security and climate change” — was announced at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29, held last week in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

The news follows strong criticism of the event, with detractors calling the announced measures to tackle the climate crisis inadequate.

AIM says it recognizes the need for “bold, innovative solutions.” Its investment, up from US$17 billion previously, comes from government partners and accelerated investments from sprint collaborators, says the group. It adds that the move signifies the urgency of action needed to tackle the climate crisis. 

The group plans to align with COP 29’s priorities of climate finance, emission reduction and developing adaptive solutions for climate-related loss and damage. It will focus specifically on topics including smallholder farmers in low — and middle-income countries, emerging technologies, agroecological research and methane reduction.

More innovation sprints 

It will also carry out 52 more innovation sprints, which are “investments in specific, impactful, expedited efforts” to find climate solutions. The new finance pledge also brings its total worldwide partner network to 800. The AIM initiative unites public and private partners and is a five-year project that began in 2021 and will end next year. 

“AIM for Climate recognizes the wide range of participants necessary to achieve its goal and seeks to draw on diverse knowledge, experiences and cultures,” says the group in a statement. 

COP29 ended last week with a new public climate finance goal of US$300 billion. Climate groups have strongly criticized the agreement as being the bare minimum needed to tackle the crisis. 

Jasper Inventor, head of COP29 Greenpeace Delegation, says: “The agreed finance goal is woefully inadequate and overshadowed by the level of despair and scale of action needed. The best and worst of multilateralism saw isolated blockers and difficult talks stymie change before a deal was brokered at the death knell.”

Meanwhile, Slow Food, a global movement advocating for fairer food systems, also recently expressed concerns. Its president, Edward Mukiibi, stated that the conclusions “do not reflect what the world and communities really need.” Similarly, Amnesty International described the goal as “an affront to human rights.”