Fight over aid for climate losses divides UN meet
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — With an end-of-the-week deadline rushing at them faster than agreements are coming out of them, negotiators at the UN climate summit were in a difficult spot, Wednesday.
Talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh got off to a plodding start and are behind the pace of previous meetings as government ministers returned to Egypt to take over negotiations with three days left before the scheduled close, Friday.
“I think we still have a long way to go. But I remain hopeful that we can come to good conclusions,” the European Union’s top climate official, Frans Timmermans, told The Associated Press.
Demands for rich nations to provide additional aid for vulnerable countries suffering devastating impacts from climate change have become a major point of division at the two-week meeting.
Developed countries such as the United States have long resisted the idea of “loss and damage” for fear of being held financially liable for the carbon dioxide they’ve pumped into the atmosphere for decades.