COP27 approves a fund for loss and damage caused by climate change

The UN climate conference (COP27) approved this Sunday the creation of a loss and damage fund for countries “particularly vulnerable” to climate change.

After more than a day of delay on the scheduled agenda, the almost 200 members of COP27 approved the decision by consensus, proposed by the Egyptian presidency, at the beginning of the plenary session.

A round of applause celebrated the approval of this item on the agenda, after a long negotiation that lasted until dawn.

The fund, which will not be immediately operational, will provide “predictable and adequate” financing to “particularly vulnerable developing countries” to which weather disasters which, according to scientists, are reinforced by climate change.

A transition committee made up of 24 countries, including three from Latin America and the Caribbean, will elaborate the details on the operation and financing of this fund for a year, with a view to its adoption at COP28 at the end of 2023, a year before the term foreseen until now to close this new mechanism.

The financing It will basically fall on the rich countries, which have historically contributed the most to global warming.

But one of the work tracks agreed this Saturday calls for “expanding the sources of financing”, which would leave the window open for countries like China to participate as a donor to that fund, a demand expressed by the European Union and Canada.

The COP27 agreement also invites the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to provide “financing solutions”.