Latest draft proposes ‘loss and damage’ deal

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: The United Nations climate agency on Saturday published the latest draft proposal for a deal to tackle the issue of “loss and damage” that said the summit would agree to launch a new fund to help countries cope with the cost of climate damage.

The draft, which would need approval from the nearly 200 countries, would agree to “establish a fund for responding to loss and damage”. Developing countries’ call for a climate damage fund has dominated the UN negotiations over the last two weeks, pushing the summit past its scheduled Friday finish as countries struggled to strike a deal.

The draft proposal would kick many of the most controversial decisions on the fund into next year, when a “transitional committee” would make recommendations for countries to then adopt at the COP28 climate summit in November 2023.