The fund aims to bring relief for disaster hit countries who have called for aid and reparation after enduring climate change-induced floods, droughts, heat waves and famines. Payments, for what negotiators call loss and damage, have also been an issue for nations which are at a higher risk of sinking all together due to rising sea levels.
“Today, the international community has restored global faith in this critical process that is dedicated to ensuring no one is left behind,” Antigua and Barbuda’s Molwyn Joseph, who chairs the organization of small island states that has been vocal on the issue said.
The United States also supported the fund though the climate envoy John Kerry did not attend the talks after testing positive for Covid-19.
Wealthier nations had previously rejected the proposals for creating a specific loss and damage fund at the last climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
The creation of a fund was approved by almost 200 countries early Sunday morning, after the European Union and other nations were left disappointed at the lack of an agreement to reduce the burning of fossil fuels in the first place. The deal lacked any agreement to phase down the unbated use of fossil fuels. Earlier on Saturday, The E.U. had threatened to exit the talks if an ambitious cut on emissions was not discussed.
“Our planet is still in the emergency room,” said the Secretary-General António Guterres after the breakthrough deal was reached at dawn after hours of negotiations. “We need to drastically reduce emissions now — and this is an issue this COP did not address,” he said.
Regardless, the summit was able to prevent backsliding on the current global goal of limiting global warming by 2.7 degrees after the Egyptian presidency for the talks insisted on relaxing it.
“What we have in front of us is not enough of a step forward for people and planet,” a disappointed Frans Timmermans, executive vice president of the European Union, told his fellow negotiators.
“It does not bring enough added efforts from major emitters to increase and accelerate their emissions cuts,” he said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
