Island nations want China, India to pay for climate damage

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Highly polluting emerging economies including China and India should pay into a climate compensation fund to help countries rebuild after climate change-driven disasters, the prime minister of island nation Antigua and Barbuda said on Tuesday.

The comments marked the first time the two nations have been lumped into the list of major emitters that island states say should be held to account for damage already being wrought by global warming.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne, speaking on behalf of the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) negotiating bloc,told reporters the world’s first- and thirdbiggest greenhouse gas emitters - though still emerging economies - have aresponsibility to pay into a fund.

Delegates at the conference agreed to put the topic of loss and damage onto the formal agenda for the first time in the history of international climate negotiations.

“We all know that the People’s Republic of China, India - they’re major polluters, and the polluter must pay,” Mr Browne said.

“I don’t think that there’s any free pass for any country and I don’t say this with any acrimony.”

In UN climate talks, the phrase “loss and damage” refers to costs already being incurred from climatefuelled weatherextremes or impacts, like rising sea levels.

To date, climate vulnerable countries have called on historical emitters like the United States, United Kingdom andthe EU to pay climate reparations. China itself has previously supported the creation of a lossand damage fund but has not said it should pay into it. The EU and United States have said that China, the world’s biggestgreenhouse gas emitter, should pay.

India, though a top emitter, has per capita emissions that are significantly lower than the world average.

AOSIS wants a full commitment to launch a multibillion dollar fund by 2024.

Egypt’s lead climate negotiator Mohamed Nasr told Reuters that the goal for the COP27 negotiations was to get some clarity on the way forward for loss and damage, but that there was still a wide range of views.

■