The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) concluded Sunday (Nov. 20) with a last-minute agreement on “loss and damage” funding for developing nations suffering climate impacts. Critics argue that the annual meeting made little progress on goals to limit warming, however.
More than 35,000 delegates from around the world, including U.S. President Joe Biden, gathered for the conference at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which was originally set to run from Nov. 6 to Nov. 18. However, negotiations lasted until Nov. 20, as delegates hammered out the agreement on paying for loss and damage caused by climate change.
The deal sets up a fund to aid developing nations experiencing the worst effects of climate change — such as exacerbated flooding, fires and storms — while having contributed little to climate emissions, Vox (opens in new tab) reported. Developed countries, which have contributed much more to climate change, will fund those payments. (For example, the U.S. is responsible for 20% of historical emissions, CarbonBrief (opens in new tab) reported.)
COP convenes the 197 nations that agreed to the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The U.N. organizes the meetings annually to make decisions on climate change.
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“We reached a turning point in the climate negotiations on loss and damage,” Yamide Dagnet (opens in new tab), director for climate justice at the Open Society Foundations, a grantmaking network that funds work in justice, democratic governance and human rights, said in a statement. “After 30 contentious years, delayed tactics by wealthy countries, a renewed spirit of solidarity, empathy and cooperation prevailed, resulting in the historic establishment of a dedicated fund.”
The deal leaves several contentious questions unanswered, however, including which countries will pay and be eligible for compensation, Matt McDonald (opens in new tab), an associate professor of international relations at The University of Queensland, Australia, wrote in The Conversation (opens in new tab).
Meanwhile, ambitions to set stricter limits on emissions and eliminate use of fossil fuels came up short, the BBC (opens in new tab) reported. Last year’s COP26 (opens in new tab), held in Glasgow, Scotland, called on nations to “revisit and strengthen” emissions-cutting plans to limit global temperature…
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