COP27 climate summit closes with agreement to compensate poor countries
Early on Sunday morning negotiators managed to agree on what's called a loss and damage fund.
It will compensate poor countries that suffer from extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and heatwaves that have been made worse by the carbon emissions of rich countries.
It's a deserved win for climate justice which will benefit countries that have contributed little to the pollution that heats up the globe but who suffer the most.
But a larger and arguably more important agreement over going further in reducing emissions proved too much at this climate summit.
After the decision on the fund was approved, talks were put on hold for 30 minutes so delegates could read texts of other measures they were to vote on.
“This is how a 30-year-old journey of ours has finally, we hope, found fruition today,” said Pakistan Climate Minister Sherry Rehman, who often took the lead for the world’s poorest nations.
One-third of her nation was submerged this summer by a devastating flood and she and other officials used the motto: “What went on in Pakistan will not stay in Pakistan.”
Outside experts hailed the decision as historic.
“This loss and damage fund will be a lifeline for poor families whose houses are destroyed, farmers whose fields are ruined, and islanders forced from their ancestral homes,” said Ani Dasgupta, president of the environmental think tank World Resources Institute, minutes after the early morning approval. “This positive outcome from COP27 is an important step toward rebuilding trust with vulnerable countries.”
It’s a reflection of what can be done when the poorest nations remain unified, said Alex Scott, a climate diplomacy expert at the think tank E3G.
“I think this is huge to have governments coming together to
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