News Desk
SHARM EL SHEIKH: The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has asked the world countries to avoid blaming each other and devise a concrete plan to help most vulnerable countries recover from losses caused by climate-induced disasters.
Speaking at the concluding session of the COP27 conference in Egypt, Guterres said that there is clearly observed a breakdown in trust between prosperous and developing economies. The most practical way to restore confidence, links with an “ambitious and credible agreement” to recover ‘loss and damage’ inflicted on vulnerable countries.
Guterres said that we have no time for doing finger-pointing and the blame game will inculcate ‘mutually assured destruction for the world.
“Now we need action as the time for talking on climate loss and damage finance is over”. Guterres added.
As the climate conference wrapped up on Friday, representatives of global countries failed to find a cooperative strategy to counter the critical issue of “loss and damage” caused by environmental degradation.
Developing Nations and Climate Talks
At the session, developing nations that are least responsible for global emissions urged rich nations to agree at COP27 climate talks to establish a climate financing fund.
They said that the fund under climate financing, financed by rich polluters, will be used to reimburse developing nations that have experienced significant losses due to climate change due to the activities of developed countries.
After dragging their feet on loss and damage due to fears that it would expose rich nations to open-ended claims for compensation under climate financing, the United States and the European Union softened their stance by agreeing to debate the subject at COP27.
Hours after Guterres’ intervention in the climate talks, the President of COP27, Sameh Shoukry, urged delegates to tackle the last hours of discussions with “urgency.”
Shoukry said that we should reach the point in order to w this conference with tangible and robust outcomes.
European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, proposed in the climate talks at COP27 to create funds for loss and damage for the most vulnerable countries. It should be referred to as compensation for climate damage, he said.
However, Timmermans also said that the cash should come from a “wide donor base,” which included China, the world’s top polluter, and second-largest economy, to join.
A previous plan by China and some 130 developing countries, known as the G77+China, limited the donors to a list of two-dozen affluent nations compiled in 1992.
Countries like China, referred to as poorer around 30 years ago, are not subject to emerging economies. Timmermans said that these countries should not leave “off the hook” because they have grown wealthier.
Pakistan at COP27 Climate Talks
Nabeel Munir of Pakistan said at COP 27 climate conference suggested indicating the usage of climate financing funds to assist “developing nations” in the larger context, compared with the EU’s proposal of climate financing fund. Munir said that “For us, the success of climate summit depends on what we get on loss and damage.”
UN Climate Financing Fund
The United States, the world’s second-largest carbon emitter, did not commit any promise and a Chinese official did not cite losses and damages in his speech.
Earlier, Pacific Island of Vanuatu’s climate change minister, Ralph Regenvanu, warned that “We have lost patience, we are out of finances, and we are out of time.”
Protests organized at the COP 27 conference site attempted to maintain pressure on delegates, with Protesters in small but Prominent Crowds yelling: “What do we want? Climate justice!”
The standoff over ‘loss and damage’ is obstructed agreement on a wide range of problems that world nations hope to resolve at the climate talks of COP27.
Developed countries want other nations to reaffirm their commitment to reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a common goal of COP conferences but a problematic objective as CO2 emissions reached an all-time higher this year.
