Countries celebrate first-ever fund for climate damages at COP27

For the first time in history countries have agreed on a dedicated fund to pay out for extreme climate damages in vulnerable regions, finally bringing to a close a tumultuous two weeks at the COP27 climate summit.

Many questions about the hard-won fund remain, including who pays in, who is eligible for the money and who administers it.

But the United Nations summit has brought what was a taboo issue into the mainstream, with even the US, a longtime blocker, accepting the need for such a pot of money.

It was regarded as a breakthrough that funding for “loss and damage,” as it is known, even made it on to the official agenda for the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh.

“The world is watching,” COP27 presidency Sameh Shoukry said before he gavelled through the deal at around 4.15am on Sunday morning, greeted by a round of applause from weary delegates.

Disasters such as extreme flooding, drought and sea level rise have been supercharged by a hotter climate, driven primarily by pollution from developing countries. The group of 20 major economies is responsible for 75% of global emissions.

Laurence Tubiana, architect of the Paris Agreement, called it a “breakthrough for the most vulnerable countries”.

In spite of the outstanding details, “the principle is in place and that is a significant mindset shift”, she added.

“We have come a long way, although we have been waiting for this for 30 long years,” said Harjeet Singh from Climate Action Network, who has campaigned for loss and damage for years.

After the talks had run well into extra time, COP president Sameh Shoukry also finally waved through the overarching deal, representing the political agreement from the conference.

Mr Shoukry had to adjourn the session after Switzerland intervened, amid concerns it fell short on cutting emissions.

The section had been chipped away at from the previous draft, as one senior diplomat described it. The latest version targets greenhouse gas cuts at “applicable sectors,” and relies on “low-emission” energy, which many fear could be interpreted as the fossil fuel gas.

Saudi Arabia had led the charge against stronger language on clean energy. Meanwhile the EU, the UK and small islands were among those lobbying for a phase out of all fossil fuels, as well as commitment to limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

They warn that the greater the global warming, the worse the climate damages will become and the more money will be needed to cover the costs.

Towards the end of the second week, delegates wondered whether a deal would materialise, with host nation Egypt leaving it until Friday to produce the first draft, hours before the summit was due to close.

A series of frantic negotiations followed as countries sought to tip the balance of the text in favour of their respective aims.

The COP process relies on consensus so all of the almost 200 countries present have to agree on the deal for it to go through.

Egypt faced criticism for restricting protests, poor organisation and its ongoing imprisonment of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, among many other government critics.

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