INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Delegates from nearly 200 counties at the COP27 climate summit have agreed to set up a loss and damage fund meant to help vulnerable
countries cope with climate disasters, in a landmark deal early Sunday morning in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.But while the deal represents a
breakthrough in what has been a contentious negotiation process, delegates were still working to hammer out other controversial parts of the
agreement, including a proposal to include a call to phase out all fossil fuels, rather than just coal.The deal marks the first time
nations.Negotiators and non-governmental organizations observing the talks said the fund was a significant achievement, after developing
nations and small island countries banded together to amplify pressure.The fund will focus on what can be done to support loss and damage
resources, but it does not include liability or compensation provisions, a senior Biden administration official told CNN.The US and other
developed nations have long sought to avoid such provisions that could open them up to legal liability and lawsuits from other countries
And in previous public remarks, US Climate Envoy John Kerry had said loss and damage was not the same thing as climate
The text leaves a lot of questions on when it will be finalized and become operational, and how exactly it would be funded
Institute CEO Ani Dasgupta said
outcome on a fund came this year in large part because the G77 bloc of developing nations stayed unified, exerting increased leverage on
Krishnan, resilience director for World Resources Institute Africa told reporters
many, the fund represents a hard-fought years-long victory, pushed over the finish line by the global attention given to climate disasters
money getting put into it
into overtime on Saturday before continuing into the early hours of Sunday morning, with negotiators still working out the details as the
workers were dismantling the venue around them
At points, there was a real sense of fatigue and frustration
working the phones instead of having face-to-face meetings.And earlier in the day Saturday, EU officials threatened to walk out of the
meeting if the final agreement fails to endorse the goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.Global
average temperature has already climbed to around 1.1 degrees
Beyond 1.5 degrees, the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages will increase dramatically, scientists said in the
Sharm el-Sheikh Saturday evening, the mood shifted to cautious jubilation, with groups of negotiators starting to hint that a deal was in
sight.But, as is always the case with top-level diplomacy, officials were quick to stress that nothing is truly agreed until the final gavel
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://adaderana.lk
