Climate blame game

THE creation of a ‘loss and damage’ fund, through which wealthy nations will pay poorer ones to make up for the effects of climate change, sets a dangerous and extremely divisive precedent.

Cop27 delegates were careful not to call it compensation or reparations. But that’s effectively what it is.

The fund is based on the concept that the developed world caused the climate crisis with its historically high carbon emissions, and must now make amends.

But vexed questions remain: Who should pay, who should receive and how much? The UK began the industrial revolution. Should we be penalised for that?

Yes, it involved burning large amounts of fossil fuel, but it was far from being a sin. It sparked an agrarian revolution that helped feed the world. Its steel and concrete built roads, railways and bridges globally, and the buildings in which we live.

Water purification plants, life- saving medical equipment, even wind turbines and solar farms are direct consequences of industrialisation. So it’s time to stop this pointless retrospective blame game and focus on the here and now.

Of course rich nations should do all they can to help poorer ones. That’s why Britain and other Western countries have generous international development programmes.

But the funding should be based on need, not some spurious notion of historic guilt.