COP27 adopted a resolution on Sunday providing in particular for the creation of a dedicated fund to finance the climate damage already suffered by “particularly vulnerable” countries, a decision described as “historic” by its promoters.
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The decision was adopted by consensus in plenary assembly to thunderous applause, at the end of the annual UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
It underlines the “immediate need for new, additional, predictable and adequate financial resources to help developing countries which are particularly vulnerable” to the “economic and non-economic” impacts of climate change.
Among these possible modes of financing is explicitly the creation of a “response fund for loss and damage”, a strong demand from developing countries, which have united on this file.
The modalities for implementing the decision, and therefore the fund, will have to be drawn up by a special committee for adoption at the next COP28, at the end of 2023 in the United Arab Emirates.
The question of “loss and damage”, more than ever at the center of the debates after the devastating floods which recently hit Pakistan and Nigeria, almost derailed the COP27.
It was only put on the agenda at the very last moment, after long reluctance from rich countries, and on the condition that the question of possible legal liability or compensation be dismissed.
Developed countries were then opposed for a long time to any idea of a dedicated fund.
Finally, the European Union made an offer on Thursday, the eve of the scheduled closing of the conference, accepting a fund, on condition that it be reserved for “particularly vulnerable” countries, which would exclude developing countries which have experienced strong growth in their wealth, like China.
This reference is indeed in the resolution adopted but not directly concerning the fund.
The EU also wanted mention of a broadening of the “contributor base”, which would allow China to be included. But this eventuality will have to be discussed by the committee and will certainly be the subject of bitter debates.
The United States, the world’s leading economic power and historical polluter, and China have remained publicly very discreet on this issue.
Mohamed Adow, director of the NGO Power Shift Africa, an ardent defender of the fund, welcomed this adoption: “At the start of these talks, loss and damage were not even on the agenda. And now we are going down in history”.