(Washington) The United States “fully supports” the issue of the disproportionate damage suffered by poor countries from climate change being discussed at COP27, which opens in less than two weeks, said US climate envoy John Kerry on Wednesday.
Posted at 2:41 p.m.
The most vulnerable countries, which are at the same time the least responsible for global warming, are calling for specific funding to compensate for the “losses and damages” caused by the climate crisis. This question promises to be one of the key points of debate at the 27e UN climate conference, which will take place from November 6 to 18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
“We need to take it to the next level and have a real dialogue about how the world is going to deal with loss and damage,” John Kerry told a news conference on Wednesday.
“We are ready to discuss in Sharm el-Sheikh all the ways we can try to be fair, and to join the efforts of the world to help address the concerns of many countries,” he said. . “So we are fully in favor of addressing loss and damage in the context of UN processes. »
This theme is mentioned in the Paris climate agreement, but the developed countries, which have built their wealth on fossil fuels, are resistant to the question being treated as such.
“I hope this will be the year where everyone somehow comes to be on the same page, recognizing that there are particular inequalities, which require particular attention,” said John Kerry .
He recalled that Africa only accounts for 3% of greenhouse gas emissions, although 17 of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis are on this continent.
Washington will make “announcements on (its) support for Africa in terms of adaptation” at COP27 in the face of climate change, he said on Wednesday.
Furthermore, “we need to find new mechanisms to free up financing […] to help countries transition” to clean energy, he said.
Washington will work at COP27 “to develop multilateral guidelines for banks to make more money available for lending”, he said.