Talks on disaster fund make progress
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Negotiators say they have struck a potential breakthrough deal on the thorniest issue of United Nations climate talks in Egypt: the creation of a fund for compensating poor nations that are victims of extreme weather worsened by rich countries' carbon pollution.
Several cabinet ministers from across the globe told the Associated Press that agreement was reached on a fund for what negotiators call loss and damage. It's a big win for poorer nations, which have long called for cash — sometimes viewed as reparations — because they are often the victims of climate disasters despite having contributed little to the pollution that heats up the globe.
“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.”
The United States, which in the past has been reluctant to even talk about the issue of loss and damage, “is working to sign on,” said an official close to negotiations.
If an agreement is accepted it still needs to be approved in a unanimous decision. But other parts of a deal, outlined in a package of proposals put out earlier Saturday by the Egyptian chairs of the talks, are still being hammered out as negotiators head into what they hope is their final session.
Still, the attention centered around the compensation fund, which has also been called a justice issue.
“There is an agreement on loss and damage,” Maldives Environment Minister Aminath Shauna told the AP early Saturday afternoon after a meeting with other delegations. “That means for countries like ours we will have the mosaic of solutions that we have been advocating for.”
New Zealand Climate Minister James Shaw said both the poor countries that would get the money and the rich ones that would give it are on board with the proposed deal.
According to the latest draft, the fund would initially draw on contributions from developed countries and other private and public sources such as international financial institutions. While major emerging economies such as China would not initially be required to contribute, that option remains on the table and will be negotiated over the coming years. This is a key demand by the European Union and the United States, who argue that China and other large polluters currently classified as developing countries have the financial clout and responsibility to pay their way.