Climate Emergency: Will Countries Polluting Rich Countries Pay Reparations? | | Climate Crisis News

After decades of slow progress on climate action, political leaders stepping into finances and debating whether climate change is real, this year’s extreme weather was a stark reminder that the world had reached some goals. turning point Climate scientists have warned us.

More than 1,700 people have died in floods in Pakistan, 4,000 casualties The tragic events caused by droughts and floods across the African continent are just a few of the tragic events that will shape the conversation on climate finance, and particularly climate compensation, at the upcoming COP27 climate summit in Egypt.

Salimul Huk, director of the Bangladesh-based International Center for Climate Change and Development, said that if countries had worked harder to mitigate their carbon emissions and improve their adaptation strategies, these casualties would have been reduced. states that some may have been avoided.

“But unfortunately we are not doing enough,” he says. “Adaptation is no longer possible when people are losing their lives, their livelihoods and their homes.”

According to a survey of NGO Oxfamthe need for financial assistance after weather disasters is eight times higher than it was 20 years ago, and funding shortfalls are growing.

Oxfam calculates a gap of up to $33 billion over the past five years.loss and damageAfter recent disasters such as the 2021 European floods, which caused $45 billion worth of damage, and Hurricane Maria in 2017, which wiped out the equivalent of 226% of Dominica’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Spanish researcher estimated By 2040, the cost of loss and damage in developing countries alone could reach $1 trillion. Who will pay for the bill is a question staunchly avoided for years by rich economies responsible for much of past emissions and current global warming.

but things may change at the COP27 summit From November 6th to 18th.

In September, delegates from 30 negotiating groups met under the United Nations Climate Change Framework. focused meeting Diplomatic term used to denote irreversible environmental damage caused by extreme climate impacts, with respect to the issue of loss and damage.

Participants successfully included loss and damage financing on this year’s COP provisional agenda, discussing aspects such as funding timelines, scope and placement, as well as potential sources of funding and eligibility criteria for assistance. Did.

“Unpleasant” country

Climate negotiations held in the UK last year fell short of providing financial institutions for loss and damage. A group of 134 developing countries (known as the G77), China now intends to fight under Pakistani leadership.

The issue of funding for climate change compensation was not resolved COP26 agendaexplains Harjeet Singh, Head of Global Political Strategy at the NGO Climate Action Network (CAN) International. Historically, loss and damage have been addressed as a form of adaptation, but are flagged as a separate issue in the Paris Agreement.

“Each country [the idea of monetary compensation] just put [loss and damage] To avoid conversation, they used the excuse that the Paris Agreement had not yet entered into force,” Singh said.

After the rulebook to guide the implementation of the Paris Agreement was approved last year, Singh said the debate no longer holds and funding for loss and damage is expected to be on the COP’s final agenda for the first time. rice field. .

It’s a historic step, but “even the most optimistic person would not believe that the financial facility would be approved and all its procedures decided,” said the non-profit World Resources Institute Africa. says climate resilience expert Nisha Krishnan.

If the financial facility is approved this year, “it will be up to the parties to negotiate its design, especially by developing countries,” she said.

“I think a comprehensive process is important, otherwise this facility has no legitimacy.”

At the earliest, this work will begin in the next round of climate negotiations, a multi-year process before funds actually reach affected communities.

Climate diplomacy moves slowly to build consensus and build robust policy frameworks, but the frequency and severity of climate-related disasters is only accelerating.

Need for “substantial discussion”

This is why negotiators and civil society groups will lobby at COP27 not only to bring more money to the table, but to open up new avenues for capital to circulate faster and make an impact. .

of Task Force on Access to Climate Finance is one such example, launched in March 2021 to help simplify and speed up access to finance for developing countries.

Bangladesh, Fiji, Jamaica, Rwanda and Uganda have volunteered to participate in the pilot phase of the programme, the results of which should be evaluated this year. Krishnan also Santiago Network Established in 2019 to help countries access technical assistance to address climate change.

“[The Santiago Network] We still need to operate, but we don’t have a governance structure yet,” she explains.

As for formal negotiations, in addition to the main goal of establishing facilities for loss and damage financing, Krishnan said: glasgow dialogueis a forum established last year to discuss irreversible environmental damage and is now given broad and detailed mandates.

“For now, there is concern that the Glasgow Dialogue will remain a dead end dialogue,” says Krishnan.

“Are there results that can be enforced? Can we have more substantive discussions than annual meetings? These are some of the things that we hope will come out of COP27. .”