Loss and damage, often defined as the negative consequences of climate change that we have not been able to avoid through emission cuts and adaptation, have been one of the most heated topics in the UN’s climate negotiations for a number of years. That is because these negotiations go straight to the heart of who is responsible for climate change being a fact in the first place, and who will pay for the destruction climate change brings. Since the creation of the UNFCCC in 1992, several of the countries that have experienced the consequences of climate change, and the organizations that work on their behalf, have pointed to the importance of recognizing the bias in responsibility for climate change, and who is affected the most – namely the which has at least from before. This bias is also something that the UN’s climate panel (IPCC) has pointed out in its reports and has been the subject of climate negotiations for a number of years – who is responsible for the changes and who will foot the bill? At COP27, the big breakthrough came: The countries of the world agreed to create a separate fund for loss and damage as a consequence of climate change. The largest international umbrella civil society organization Climate Action Network (CAN) celebrates the decision: – With the creation of a new “loss and damage” fund, COP27 sends a message to polluters that they can no longer go scot-free with their climate destruction. From now on, they will have to pay for the destruction that makes them responsible for people experiencing storms, devastating floods and sea level rise. Countries must work together to ensure that the new fund can become a tool that works for the most vulnerable people and communities facing the climate crisis, said Harjeet Singh, head of global policy strategy at Climate Action Network International. A step towards climate justice There are still major disagreements among the world’s countries about who will pay to the fund, how this will happen and who will receive the money. These are questions that will be examined over the next year by a transition committee that will make recommendations to COP28 in Dubai in December 2023. The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, points out that the decision is “a step towards climate justice”. – It is clear that this will not be enough, but it is a necessary political signal to rebuild broken trust, he said in the closing minutes of the climate conference in Egypt.
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The world’s countries with historic agreement on “loss and damage” funds for climate damage in developing countries
