Climate Damage Fund a little closer after talks ahead of COP28 | climate
During last year’s UN climate conference, countries agreed on the need to create a climate damage fund. But for a long time it was not certain what that should look like. That is why rich and poor countries entered into discussions this weekend and concrete steps were taken.
For a long time, it seemed as if rich and poor countries would not agree on the content of the Climate Damage Fund. For example, exactly what the fund should look like, who will pay and who will get the money.
This would further complicate the upcoming climate summit that the United Nations will hold in Dubai at the end of November. That is why the parties spoke in Abu Dhabi before the summit.
The fund aims to support the poorest groups The most vulnerable To help countries compensate for some of the damage caused by climate change.
Rich countries should help pay
In Abu Dhabi, among other things, basic guidelines on financing the Fund were agreed upon. According to the news agency Bloomberg “Developed countries are called upon to provide support.” This is partly because poor countries suffer much more negative consequences of climate change than rich countries, even though their emissions are lower.
Delegates also agreed that the World Bank should organize a climate damage fund for at least the first four years. This is noteworthy, because for months developing countries have been opposed to this idea.
These countries feared that less money would go to affected areas through an “intermediary” such as the World Bank, as Brandon Wu of the human rights organization ActionAid previously explained. While these funds are urgently needed to help vulnerable countries cope with damage caused, for example, by floods, droughts or extreme weather events. There may also not be direct access to these funds.
It is uncertain whether enough has now been agreed in Abu Dhabi to reach an agreement at the climate summit in Dubai. Human rights activists fear that the tension in the negotiations will extend to the talks in Dubai.
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