Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt
CNN
—
Last week gave the world a glimpse of what climate vulnerable countries It has long been known: while the rich countries are committed to supporting climate action, they are much less enthusiastic when it comes to climate action. forking on cash.
At the UN COP27 climate summitThe United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom are united against the creation of a new fund this year to help the world’s developing nations – which have contributed very little to the climate crisis – recovery from climate disasters.
Developing the so-called loss and damage funds Erin Roberts, climate policy researcher and founder of the Loss and Damage Partnership, said it was a key issue at COP27 and a “test of success” for the summit. .
As it stands, developing countries – which have for years begged for loss and damage funds – are facing disappointment.
With just three days of negotiations left, a sense of frustration is spreading across the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where the conference is taking place. Activists are staging daily and The protests are getting more and more angry outside the negotiating room. On Saturday, in the summit’s largest rally to date, hundreds of people marched through the vast conference venue, demanding that rich countries come together and “pay the price.”
But that message did not break through in high-level negotiations.
An EU source directly involved in the summit talks told CNN on Tuesday that the bloc does not believe there should be a binding agreement on a new loss and damage fund before The details of how it works are agreed upon.
The source added that the EU believes the COP27 deal could include an agreement that work needs to be done on the issue and a solution will be found by 2024.
Similarly, the UK government submitted a document to the conference saying it wanted to establish a “process” to bring about a concrete solution by 2024 at the latest.
Senior US administration officials only pledged to discuss losses and damages but did not go further to explain the type of fund they would ultimately support. They also see 2024 as the deadline for a loss and damage agreement, but do not support the proposals made so far, fearing that it could expose developed nations to legal liability. management in the coming years.
When pressed about what kind of loss and damage fund the United States would open up, officials have repeatedly declined to say. And they want to spend the next two years addressing those questions, rather than coming to an agreement this year.
A spokesman for US climate envoy John Kerry did not respond to a request for comment.
The delay promotion of some richest country in the world which means those hardest hit by climate change are prepared for disappointment.
“I don’t want to leave COP27 empty-handed,” Shauna Aminath, the environment minister of the Maldives, said during an event at the conference on Tuesday. “To agree to work on something that will be founded in 2024 is to go empty-handed.”
It is seen as a huge success as loss and damage are on the official COP27 agenda, and developing countries are holding back the rich and pushing for a binding commitment for the year. now.
Negotiations on the matter have ended, summit participants have told CNN, and have dragged on into late evening this week.
But developed countries are tackling the problem slowly – many want to spend the next two years exploring possible solutions, with the proposal to make a decision by 2024, which does not guarantee an agreement. official sponsorship.
Amid a tough economy, US and EU leaders worry they won’t be able to get this funding through their domestic legislatures, where they are facing a battle. difficult to raise more money to fulfill climate financial commitments.
But Aminath said she doesn’t believe that reluctance to settle losses and damages will reduce lack of finance.
“We see that trillions of dollars have been raised to address the global health emergency” during the pandemic, and “we are seeing trillions of dollars spent,” she said. to help Ukraine.”
Representatives from vulnerable countries also told CNN that they are frustrated by calls for more analysis and mapping of rich countries, which would cost money that should have been spent. to cover loss and damage.
“They want to show their voters that they’re doing something when they’re not,” Michai Robertson, loss and damage finance leader for the Alliance of Small Island States, told CNN. . “They’re pouring money into research departments, for example, as opposed to actually pouring money into specific responses to all the loss and damage we face.”
Despite the grim outlook so far, Robertson said developing countries remain united and determined, noting that the last thing they want is to be stuck in another cycle of climate catastrophe, heavily indebted. and devastation without action from developed countries.
“We don’t just want a chance to survive; We want the opportunity to grow,” he said.
A time of hope for loss and damage came earlier this week when Germany announced its Global Shield initiative designed to help vulnerable countries cope with loss and damage. caused by the climate crisis.
Flood-stricken countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines will be among the beneficiaries when the program begins to cover funding early next year.
While the funds committed to the initiative are relatively large, they pale in comparison to the devastation these countries have endured.
For example, the World Bank last month estimated that Pakistan would need “at least $16.3 billion” to rebuild after this summer’s deadly floods. As of Monday, Global Shield has received about $216 million in total commitments.
The program has also been criticized for its primary focus on insurance and preventing future loss and damage, rather than direct funding to address disasters that have already – and recently – occurred.
German Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze stressed the initiative was a supplement to – not a replacement for – the official UN loss and damage fund.
“It’s a good start, but it’s also just a beginning,” Schulze said at a news conference on Monday, noting that loss and damage was “a hugely contentious issue.”
“I’m glad that we, the international community have finally agreed, have climate-related loss and damage,” Schulze said.
Julie-Anne Richards, an independent consultant and expert at the Loss and Damage Partnership, says the design of the Global Shield is problematic.
“They’re taking on all these climate risks because rich countries like Australia and the US caused the climate problem, but now they’re leaving it to them,” Richards told CNN. vulnerable people, saying ‘it is your responsibility to buy insurance’. .
Richards said she worries that countries are spending more time, effort and money creating a system that may not be scalable to solve the problem the planet is facing. Vulnerable nations are seeing their islands sink in the ocean, food and water supplies rapidly dwindling due to drought, and homes engulfed by floods.
“The financial basis for loss and damage needs to be established in such a way that it provides subsidies, does not lead to more debt, and does not place the blame on vulnerable countries,” Richards said. “So we need new money because of the size of the problem. The climate impacts we are facing are huge and it requires significant funding.”
