At present, a session to address the loss and damage is on the provisional agenda. (file)
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt:
The UN climate summit, COP27, opens on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, amid growing calls by wealthy nations to compensate countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Much of the tension around COP27 is expected to be related to loss and damage – compensation provided by wealthy countries to vulnerable low-income countries that bear little responsibility for climate-warming emissions.
Delegates will begin a two-week negotiating process by approving the conference agenda during the inaugural plenary session, with all eyes on whether rich countries agree to formally list compensation on the agenda.
Diplomats from over 130 countries are expected to push for the creation of a dedicated loss and damage finance facility at COP27.
At COP26 last year in Glasgow, high-income countries blocked a proposal for a loss and damage financing body, instead supporting a new three-year dialogue for funding discussions.
Currently, a session to address loss and damage is on the provisional agenda, but policymakers will decide today whether to adopt it on the official agenda.
“I expect this to be on the agenda,” Matthew Samuda, a minister in Jamaica’s Ministry of Economic Development, told Reuters. “There has been a softening of the position of many countries which a year ago or two years ago were not prepared to support it.”
Others expressed concern about a possible holdout.
“We know the Europeans are supporting us,” said Salimul Haq, director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development. “Now we need to see if America is going to block itself.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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