THE first week of the United Nations global climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, does not appear to have brought nations any closer to a climate justice deal.

The end of the first week was marked on Saturday by a global “day of action” for climate justice around the globe where protesters demonstrated their frustration over the lack of progress towards dealing with the climate emergency.

In week one, there appears to have been little progress made on the issue of how much money rich countries should pay to developed ones to move away from dirty fuels and how to cope with rising seas and temperatures and pay for damage already caused by climate-driven extreme weather. 

Countries remain about $1 trillion (£790 billion) a year apart in the big numbers to be settled.

While poor countries have come up with a number for the total final package, the rich donor nations have assiduously avoided giving a total, choosing to pick a figure late in the bargaining game, said Debbie Hillier, the global climate policy lead of Mercy Corps.

“The intention of developed countries to really come clean and show commitment is missing,” said Harjeet Singh, global engagement director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. 

“They have not uttered a single word on what the [final total] is going to be which is very disturbing.”

United Nations climate secretary Simon Stiell said: “Negotiations on key issues need to be moving much faster.”

“What’s at stake here in Baku,” Mr Stiell said, is “nothing less than the capacity to halve emissions this decade and protect lives and livelihoods from spiralling climate impacts.”

On Saturday, hundreds of activists formed a human chain outside one of the main plenary halls at the summit on what is traditionally their biggest protest day during the two-week talks

The protest was echoed at sites around the world in a global “day of action” for climate justice that’s become an annual event.

During the Baku demonstrations activists waved flags, snapped their fingers and hummed and mumbled chants in a silent protest, with many covering their mouths with the word “silenced.”

Lidy Nacpil, a co-ordinator with the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development said protesters like her are “not surprised” about how negotiations are going. 

“This has been the worst first week of a Cop in my 15 years of attending this summit,” said Mohamed Adow, of climate think tank Power Shift Africa.

He said: “I sense a lot of frustration, especially among the developing country blocks here.”