UN negotiators strike historic deal to help countries worst hit by climate change

Kathmandu / Nov 20: Negotiators at the United Nations climate talks said on Saturday that they had struck a breakthrough deal on creating a disaster fund compensating poor nations that are the victims of climate change damage worsened by rich countries’ carbon pollution, the Fox News reported.

The BBC confirmed that a new fund to help the countries worst-hit by the effects of climate change has been agreed in a historic deal. Citing several international cabinet ministers, the Associated Press reported that an agreement had been reached on a fund for “loss and damage.”

CNN too confirmed that negotiators from nearly 200 countries at the COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt took the historic step of agreeing to set up a “loss and damage” fund meant to help vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters and agreed the globe needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2030.

According to The Hill, the draft text outlines a proposed fund that would be open to all developing nations “that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.” The document is light on details as to the financial model and logistics of the fund, but the agreement marks a major breakthrough for developing nations that have struggled to make their voices heard on the world stage on climate issues.

Poorer nations are often the victims of climate disasters despite having contributed little to the pollution, Fox News added.

Nations in the global south and those on low-lying islands have long called for the creation of such a fund, which would pay for irreversible damages caused by the effects of climate change with money from wealthier, developed nations, The Hill further reported.

According to CNN, the agreement also reaffirmed the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

However, an attempt to address the biggest source of the planet warming emissions that are causing the climate crisis ended in a fiasco after a number of nations, including China and Saudi Arabia, blocked a key proposal to phase out all fossil fuels, not just coal, added CNN.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that it is still undecided how much countries will get from the loss and damage fund – and when. The previous $100bn commitment pledged by richer countries in 2009 to deliver the amount annually till 2020 still hasn’t been reached two years after the deadline, added the BBC. “This has left the developing nations wary of this new promise of money,” added the BBC. Agencies