COP27 conference approves landmark climate damage fund for developing countries
After two weeks of seemingly doomed negotiations, the COP27 climate conference has reached a groundbreaking agreement to help developing countries cope with the often catastrophic effects of climate change. The Washington Post reports that dignitaries agreed to create a “loss and damage fund” in the early hours of Sunday morning after two more days of negotiations. The Alliance of Small Island States, an organization that includes countries whose very existence is threatened by climate change, called the agreement "historic". However, as with the Glasgow Climate Pact that emerged from last year's COP26 conference, the consensus is that COP27 failed to deliver the action that is desperately needed to meet the demands of the current moment.
On the one hand, the conference failed to see nations agree to new, stronger commitments to reduce their carbon emissions. According to The Post, China and Saudi Arabia were strongly opposed to language calling for the phasing out of all fossil fuels, as were many African countries. Alok Sharma, president of COP26, said (via Phys.org) that an energy clause had been "weakened, in the last few minutes".
The conference also left many of the most important details related to the loss and damage fund to be settled by a committee that will have to answer some difficult questions in the coming months. Among the issues that need to be decided is how much the United States, historically the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, should pay to vulnerable countries. The conference also ended without a clear commitment from China to contribute to the fund.
The committee now has a year to draft recommendations for next year's climate meeting in Dubai. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said governments had taken "an important step towards justice", but failed to push for commitments that would ultimately protect the most vulnerable people. world's vulnerable to the worst effects of climate change. “Our planet is still in the emergency room,” said António Guterres. "We need to drastically reduce emissions now and that's an issue this COP hasn't addressed."
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After two weeks of seemingly doomed negotiations, the COP27 climate conference has reached a groundbreaking agreement to help developing countries cope with the often catastrophic effects of climate change. The Washington Post reports that dignitaries agreed to create a “loss and damage fund” in the early hours of Sunday morning after two more days of negotiations. The Alliance of Small Island States, an organization that includes countries whose very existence is threatened by climate change, called the agreement "historic". However, as with the Glasgow Climate Pact that emerged from last year's COP26 conference, the consensus is that COP27 failed to deliver the action that is desperately needed to meet the demands of the current moment.
On the one hand, the conference failed to see nations agree to new, stronger commitments to reduce their carbon emissions. According to The Post, China and Saudi Arabia were strongly opposed to language calling for the phasing out of all fossil fuels, as were many African countries. Alok Sharma, president of COP26, said (via Phys.org) that an energy clause had been "weakened, in the last few minutes".
The conference also left many of the most important details related to the loss and damage fund to be settled by a committee that will have to answer some difficult questions in the coming months. Among the issues that need to be decided is how much the United States, historically the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, should pay to vulnerable countries. The conference also ended without a clear commitment from China to contribute to the fund.
The committee now has a year to draft recommendations for next year's climate meeting in Dubai. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said governments had taken "an important step towards justice", but failed to push for commitments that would ultimately protect the most vulnerable people. world's vulnerable to the worst effects of climate change. “Our planet is still in the emergency room,” said António Guterres. "We need to drastically reduce emissions now and that's an issue this COP hasn't addressed."
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices correct at time of publication.
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