The fund would target the most vulnerable countries, delegates said, a key demand from wealthy nations that didn’t want money flowing to China and other higher-income countries.
NCEJ
Negotiators at United Nations climate talks struck a deal Saturday to set up a fund that would pay for climate-related damage in vulnerable countries, officials said, handing a victory to poorer nations that have pushed for the move for years, and removing a major sticking point in broader negotiations to limit global warming.
The fund would earmark money for what is known as loss and damage, when rising seas, more powerful storms and other effects that scientists link to climate change cause destruction that is sudden or potentially irreparable.
The United States is also working to sign on to a deal on a loss and damage fund, Whitney Smith, a spokesperson for US Climate Envoy John Kerry, confirmed to CNN.
The fund will focus on what can be done to support loss and damage resources, but it does not include liability or compensation provisions, a senior Biden administration official told CNN. The US and other developed nations have long sought to avoid such provisions that could open them up to legal liability and lawsuits from other countries.
Negotiators representing developed and developing countries agreed to the measure in the final hours of the COP27 United Nations climate summit held in this Egyptian seaside resort. Officials cautioned that the deal on loss and damage was part of a broader agreement that is still under negotiation. Wealthy nations want stronger commitments from developing countries to cut emissions in the coming decade to meet the climate targets of the Paris accord, which calls for governments to limit global warming to well under 2 degrees Celsius and preferably 1.5 degrees.
The fund would be targeted toward the most vulnerable countries, the delegates said—a key demand from wealthy nations that didn’t want money flowing to China and other higher-income countries that are deemed to be developing under the U.N. climate treaty. As part of the process for creating the fund, countries will identify new sources of financing, officials said. Wealthy countries want China, oil-rich Persian Gulf states and other higher income countries in the developing world to contribute.
Small island countries and low-lying nations such as Bangladesh have for decades sought money to pay for loss and damage. Wealthy countries, which are responsible for most of the greenhouse-gas emissions that have caused the earth to warm, have long resisted, fearing that agreeing to make payments would leave their governments and companies at risk of lawsuits.
Heading into the talks the U.S., Europe and other rich nations said a new fund wasn’t necessary and that money for loss and damage can flow through existing institutions that provide climate finance for the developing world.
Advocates for a loss and damage fund were happy with the progress, but noted that the draft is not ideal.
“We are happy with this outcome because it’s what developed countries wanted – though not everything they came here for,” Erin Roberts, founder of the Loss and Damage Collaboration, told CNN in a statement. “Like many, I’ve also been conditioned to expect very little from this process. While establishing the fund is certainly a win for developing countries and those on the frontlines of climate change, it’s an empty shell without finance. It’s far too little, far too late for those on the frontlines of climate change. But we will work on it.”
A host of questions remain about how the fund would operate and whether it can act quickly to help countries that scientists say are increasingly suffering the effects of climate change. The U.S., the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, is expected to lead efforts to provide climate finance for the developing world, and will need to get that money approved by Congress, where efforts are likely to face Republican opposition.
Still, the deal marks a welcome turn of events for negotiators who have faced a thicket of obstacles. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled energy markets and sowed geopolitical tensions in the run-up to the talks. The world’s two biggest emitters, China and the U.S., weren’t even on speaking terms due to disputes over Taiwan.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry managed to rekindle ties with his Chinese counterpart during the conference.
Then a rash of Covid-19 infections hit the summit. Mr. Kerry tested positive for the virus, his spokeswoman said, forcing him self-isolate and work by phone with his team and negotiators from other countries, the spokeswoman said, adding that he was experiencing mild symptoms.
A breakthrough in the talks came on Thursday evening when the European Union said it was willing to create the fund, but on the condition that it target the most vulnerable developing nations and that wealthier developing countries contribute.
In recent years, the demand for a separate fund became a rallying cry for countries most vulnerable to climate change. Many developing countries have pointed to the scale of monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan this year—which have left the country with losses and rebuilding costs assessed by the government and World Bank at $30 billion—as an example of what vulnerable countries are increasingly likely to contend with. Less than half of Pakistan’s $816 million international emergency appeal has been funded.
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