for "trillions" of dollars for poorer countries but left key sticking points unresolved.

Ministers at the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan had been eagerly waiting for the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro to issue a declaration that might jump start stalled negotiations.

"G20 delegations now have their marching orders," UN climate chief Simon Stiell said.

The chair of the G77+China - a coalition of developing nations - told said the Rio statement was a "good building block" for climate talks.

But Adonia Ayebare, the group's Ugandan chairman, said the G77 was "not comfortable" with the vague wording saying the money should come from "all sources."

"We have been insisting this has to be from public sources. Grants, not loans," Ayebare said.

Others were less enthusiastic. "Our expectations were maybe too high," a European negotiator told AFP.

Some developing countries want an annual commitment of US$1.3 trillion to help with climate change and transition to clean energy.

"The reality is that 1.3 trillion pales in the face of the seven trillion spent annually on fossil fuel subsidies," Fiji's deputy prime minister, Biman Prasad, told COP29 delegates. "The money is there - it is just in exactly the wrong place."

Negotiators say talks have also been held up by Saudi Arabia's resistance to any reference to last year's COP28 pledge.

Indian activist Harjeet Singh said the G20 "displayed a stark failure in leadership" by "neglecting to reaffirm their commitment to transitioning away from fossil fuels."

Agence France-Presse

COP29 impasse despite G20 'marching orders'