Who will bear the “loss and damage” of climate change?

who pays whom?

Vulnerable countries and campaigners in the past have argued that the rich countries that caused most of the climate change in their past greenhouse gas emissions should pay.

The United States and the European Union had resisted the discussion for fear of increased liability, but changed positions during the COP27 summit. The EU, the world’s second-largest economy, says China, which is classified as a developing country by the United Nations, should also pay the EU.

Several governments, such as Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Scotland, and the EU, have committed relatively small but symbolic funding for loss and damage. China has not promised to pay.

Some of the existing UN and Development Bank funds are helping states facing loss and damage, but are not officially allocated to that goal.

Also, details about which countries or disasters will be covered by compensation have not yet been worked out.

Contents of the COP27 Agreement

A fund agreed at the UN summit in Egypt aims to help developing countries “particularly vulnerable” to climate change, with wealthier countries to ensure funding goes to the most urgent cases. We hope to limit the pool of potential recipients at the same time.

The deal sets a roadmap for future decision-making, with recommendations at next year’s UN Climate Summit on decisions such as who will oversee the fund, how the funds will be distributed, and to whom. It is scheduled to be done.

The agreement calls for funding to be raised from a variety of existing sources, including financial institutions, rather than relying on wealthy countries for funding.

Some countries have suggested that other existing funds could also be a source of funding, but some experts say that problems such as lengthy delays make those funds vulnerable to loss and damage. He said he was not fit to deal with it.

Other ideas include calls from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to impose a windfall profit tax on fossil fuel companies to raise money.