COP27: Pakistan Leads Push For "Loss and Damage" Compensation at Sharm El-Sheikh

[RiazHaq]

COP27: Pakistan Leads Push For "Loss and Damage" Compensation at Sharm El-Sheikh

COP27, the United Nations climate summit, opened in Egypt on Sunday with the addition of negotiations over funding to compensate nations fo...

www.southasiainvestor.com

COP27, the United Nations climate summit, opened in Egypt on Sunday with the addition of negotiations over funding to compensate nations for “loss and damage” as an official agenda item. Pakistan led the push for it with the support of 134 developing nations. Discussions at COP26 in Scotland were mainly focused on funding "mitigation" and "adaptation", not compensation for "loss and damage".

Pakistan Pavilion at COP27 Conference in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt

The "loss and damage" agenda item was proposed by Pakistan during talks at Bonn after the country suffered heavy losses in unprecedented floods that hit a third of the country. “My country, Pakistan, has seen floods that have left 33 million lives in tatters and have caused loss and damage amounting to 10% of the GDP,” said Ambassador Munir Akram, the 2022 chair of the G77—a group of 134 developing countries, at the opening session of COP27 at Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt.

Pakistan has contributed only 0.28% of the CO2 emissions but it is among the biggest victims of climate change. The US, Europe, India, China and Japan, the world's biggest polluters, must accept responsibility for the catastrophic floods in Pakistan and climate disasters elsewhere. A direct link of the disaster in Pakistan to climate change has been confirmed by a team of 26 scientists affiliated with World Weather Attribution, a research initiative that specializes in rapid studies of extreme events, according to the New York Times.

Top 5 Current Polluters. Source: Our World in Data

Currently, the biggest annual CO2 emitters are China, the US, India and Russia. Pakistan's annual CO2 emissions add up to just 235 million tons. On the other hand, China contributes 11.7 billion tons, the United States 4.5 billion tons, India 2.4 billion tons, Russia 1.6 billion tons and Japan 1.06 billion tons.

Pakistan's Annual CO2 Emission. Source: Our World in Data

The United States has contributed 399 billion tons (25%) of CO2 emissions, the highest cumulative carbon emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. The 28 countries of the European Union (EU28), including the United Kingdom, come in second with 353 billion tons of CO2 (22%), followed by China with 200 billion tons (12.7%).

Cumulative CO2 Emissions. Source: Our World in Data

Pakistan's cumulative CO2 contribution in its entire history is just 4.4 billion tons (0.28%). Among Pakistan's neighbors, China's cumulative contribution is 200 billion tons (12.7%), India's 48 billion tons (3%) and Iran's 17 billion tons (1%).

Developing Asian Nations' CO2 Emissions. Source: Our World in Data

Pakistan has contributed little to climate change but it has become one of its biggest victims. In the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, signatories agreed to recognize and “address” the loss and damage caused by those dangerous climate impacts, according to the Washington Post. Last year, at the major U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, negotiators from developing countries tried to establish a formal fund to help the countries like Pakistan most affected by climate disasters. It was blocked by rich countries led by the Biden administration. Formal addition of "loss and damage" item at this year's COP27 conference agenda is a good start. Let's hope that a formal fund is established by the world's top polluters to compensate Pakistan and other developing nations.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

South Asia Investor Review

Catastrophic Floods in Pakistan

Pakistan Water Crisis: Facts and Myths

Pakistan Ramps Up Low-Carbon Sources of Electricity

Cycles of Drought and Floods in Pakistan

Pakistan at 75: Economic and Demographic Progress

Dust Bowl in Thar Desert Region

Dasht River in Balochistan

Bridge Collapse After Sudden Glacier Melt in Pakistan

Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

PakAlumni Social Network

COP27: Pakistan Leads Push For "Loss and Damage" Compensation at Sharm El-Sheikh

COP27, the United Nations climate summit, opened in Egypt on Sunday with the addition of negotiations over funding to compensate nations fo...

www.southasiainvestor.com

 

[FuturePAF]

I don’t think major polluters will be willing to just pay the most effected countries, but other solutions could be found.

At the very least, there should be global climate insurance efforts, to help those nations hit with climate change caused disasters.

But preferably there should be a plan to help countries build up their economies to afford adaptive infrastructure to prevent the effects of climate change cause this kind of damage. Aid is limited and conditional on good will, while trade empowers locals to become resilient to what is happening.

Btw, What kind of infrastructure could have been in place to prevent the damage the floods did in Pakistan? Drainage canals? Research into climate adaptation should be provided by the UN to each country.

The risk of these kinds of events causing climate refugees will only keep going up, and the whole world will be effected.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@RiazHaq

Brofessor sb,

In full concordance with you. But regret your insinuation that India is somehow a climate offender and liable to pay reparations to Pakistan. India emits more because it has a larger population. You should think twice before asking a nation, which has historically been poorer than Pak (on a per capita basis) for compensation.

Regards

 

[Baburfromsarmarkand]

This is shameful. No sense of honor left in our populace. In the past Kings would not even meet because none wanted to bow to the other. Here the modern leader of the Muslim world is begging. Yuck.

 

[RiazHaq]

Cop27 news – live: Pakistan PM says time for rich nations to help is ‘now or never’
‘We are spending billions of rupees from our own meagre resources, says Pakistani PM

Cop27: Pakistan PM says time for rich nations to help is ‘now or never’

Climate conference 2022

www.independent.co.uk

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif made an emotional plea in a speech at the COP27 summit this afternoon in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, calling on richer nations to help countries that are reeling from the effects of the climate crisis.

During his speech, he said it was “now or never” to take action and that “for us, there is no ‘planet B’”.

“This COP rings an alarm bell for humanity, it is the only platform where the survival of the human race as a goal still holds promise,” he said.

“It is also the forum where we as vulnerable countries take our case to the rich and the resourced to build a road map to crucial policy resets needed in a world that is burning up faster than our capacity for recovery.”

He added that the nation is being forced to spend billions of rupees from its own “meagre resources” and will enter a “debt trap” if it continues to pay for the damages.

Mr Sharif’s comments come in the wake of devastating floods across parts of Pakistan, which have affected 33 million people and caused an estimated $40bn (£35bn ) in damages.

 

[RiazHaq]

Pakistan Monsoon Floods - Situation Report #5, November 8, 2022

Pakistan Monsoon Floods - Situation Report #5, November 8, 2022 - Pakistan

Situation Report in English on Pakistan about Health, Water Sanitation Hygiene, Epidemic, Flash Flood and more; published on 8 Nov 2022 by IMC

reliefweb.int

Fast Facts

1,739 deaths, 12,867 injuries

2,288,481 homes damaged

13,115 kilometers of roads affected

Update by Province

Balochistan

336 deaths, 187 injuries

32 districts affected

115,822 houses destroyed, 125,837 damaged

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

309 deaths, 370 injuries

17 districts affected

37,525 houses destroyed, 53,939 damaged

Punjab

223 deaths, 3,858 injuries

Three districts affected

25,854 houses destroyed, 42,127 damaged

Sindh

799 deaths, 8,422 injuries

24 districts affected

716,819 houses destroyed, 1,168,210 damaged

Tens of millions of people in Pakistan have been affected by the flooding, caused by devastating monsoon rains, that has engulfed one-third of the country. There have been more than 1,700 deaths, and more than 6 million people remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Many people live in unsanitary conditions in temporary shelters on the roads, often with limited access to basic services, heightening the risk of a major public health crisis.

Though flood water has started receding in many districts of Sindh and Balochistan during the last few weeks, standing water remains in many districts, leading to outbreaks of water- and vector-borne diseases—a problem compounded by the destruction of health facilities by the floods.
Among other challenges, low stocks of essential medicines and medical supplies, and limits to access, are becoming hurdles to providing adequate health services to people in need.

The winter season in many of the affected areas is approaching fast and is likely to negatively affect the population in the coming weeks. Without adequate shelters and blankets, the health situation will quickly worsen.

The floods have also aggravated food insecurity and malnutrition in affected areas, with predictions that about 14.6 million people will require emergency food assistance from December through March 2023. According to the latest National Nutrition Survey estimates, almost 1.6 million children in Sindh and Balochistan are at the risk of malnutrition that will require treatment; stunting rates among these children will rise if they do not receive treatment in a timely manner.

 

[Clutch]

So Pakistan's response to Climate Change is another Begging Bowl l???

 

[Menace2Society]

Just stop begging, just stop it now. Fire up your industries and make some money.

 

[RiazHaq]

#COP27: Small #island nations want #India, #China to pay for climate compensation fund. Top polluters must pay for the damage to the climate, said Gaston Browne, prime minister of #Antigua and #Barbuda. #LossAndDamage #Pakistan https://scroll.in/latest/1037068/co...ia-china-to-pay-for-climate-compensation-fund via @scroll_in

The Prime Minister of the island nation Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, said on Tuesday that highly polluting emerging economies, such as China and India, should contribute to a climate compensation fund to help other countries rebuild infrastructure after climate change-driven disasters, reported Reuters.

Browne made the comments while speaking on behalf of the Association of Small Island States negotiating bloc at the United Nations Conference of Parties, or COP27, which is being held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

At the conference, developing countries have sought financing from developed countries to help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. They have also demanded funds to deal with irreparable loss and damage caused by disasters that climate change is making significantly more frequent and intense.

“We all know that the People’s Republic of China, India – they’re major polluters, and the polluter must pay,” Browne said on Tuesday, reported Reuters. “I don’t think that there’s any free pass for any country and I don’t say this with any acrimony.”

China, the United States, and India were the top emitters of carbon dioxide in 2020, according to Our World in Data by Reuters.

More than 90% of India’s population lives in areas where air quality is below World Health Organization standards, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Coal-fired power plants, factories and vehicles are among the major sources of pollution in the country

 

[RiazHaq]

Pakistan at COP27 demands climate aid, says 'dystopia' already here

Pakistan at COP27 demands climate aid, says 'dystopia' already here | Science-Environment

or 'there's a a 50-50 allocation in terms of priority between mitigation-adaptation', it's not going to mean very much to somebody whose house has been burned down by a forest fire or somebody who has lost a family member in the floods," she said. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has...

www.devdiscourse.com

or 'there's a a 50-50 allocation in terms of priority between mitigation-adaptation', it's not going to mean very much to somebody whose house has been burned down by a forest fire or somebody who has lost a family member in the floods," she said. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called on rich countries to offer compensation and debt relief to help cover Pakistan's efforts to rebuild and fortify the country against more severe climate impacts.

Pakistan will not be satisfied unless U.N. climate summit negotiators unlock emergency cash for the country to rebuild after this year's devastating floods, its climate minister said Thursday. "The dystopia has already come to our doorstep," the country's climate minister, Sherry Rehman, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the COP27 summit in Egypt.

She lamented the glacial pace of climate diplomacy, saying it cannot meet the needs of a country struggling to recover from climate-fueled flooding that caused more than $30 billion in economic losses. "The political advances we make here will have very little meaning on the ground unless there is a transfer of resources that shifts the needle on how people face the future," she said.

Pakistan is playing a high-profile role at the COP27 summit in Egypt this year, serving as one of two co-chairs invited by conference host Egypt, with the other being Norway. Pakistan also represents the G77 umbrella group of developing countries, pushing for a doubling in finance to help poor nations adapt to climate impacts.

To date, only about a third of climate finance delivered has gone toward adaptation projects

, and the full sum promised - $100 billion per year - has never been paid in full. Last year saw just over $80 billion transferred. Pakistan was key to getting the thorny issue of "loss and damage" onto the official U.N. summit agenda - a diplomatic coup after decades of resistance from rich nations. The move opened the door for talks to address vulnerable countries' demand to be compensated when hit by climate-fueled disasters.

But incremental progress made in these discussions, which can go on for years, still wouldn't be enough for Pakistanis back at home to consider the talks a win, she said. "If I say, 'well, adaptation has now been put as a priority' ... or 'there's a a 50-50 allocation in terms of priority between mitigation-adaptation', it's not going to mean very much to somebody whose house has been burned down by a forest fire or somebody who has lost a family member in the floods," she said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called on rich countries to offer compensation and debt relief to help cover Pakistan's efforts to rebuild and fortify the country against more severe climate impacts. September's floods engulfed vast areas of the country, affecting some 33 million people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Rehman said that any new money pledged either for loss and damage or for adaptation needs to be followed up "with speed and agility", because countries like Pakistan have no time to waste. She said she supported the call by the United States, Britain and other countries to overhaul international financial institutions to better respond to the disasters expected as the atmosphere continues to warm.

"There is a recognition [at COP27] that we are facing a new climate normal for the world," she said. "But there still isn't a recognition that the financial system that's been running the world ... is not going to be able to bail out the millions that are dying and in need."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

 

[Turingsage]

Why is this news ?
Pakistan is always the first to get the begging bowl out whenever there is a whiff of free money.

 

[RiazHaq]

COP27: India thwarts attempt to club it with historical polluters
In the run-up to COP27, India had said the MWP cannot be allowed to "change the goal posts" set by the Paris Agreement

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cop27-india-thwarts-attempt-to-club-it-with-historical-polluters/article66134578.ece

Supported by other developing countries, India blocked an attempt by rich nations to focus on all top 20 emitters of carbon dioxide during discussions on the 'Mitigation Work Programme' at the ongoing U.N. climate summit in Egypt, sources said on Monday.

During the first week of the climate talks, developed countries desired that all top 20 emitters, including India and China, discuss intense emission cuts and not just the rich nations which are historically responsible for climate change, they said.

There are developing countries in the top 20 emitters, including India, that are not responsible for warming that has already occurred.

According to the sources, India pushed back the attempt with the support of like-minded developing countries, including China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.

The "MWP should not lead to the reopening of the Paris Agreement" which clearly mentions that climate commitments of countries have to be nationally determined based on circumstances, India and other developing countries reportedly said.

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, parties acknowledged that a 45% reduction in global CO2 emissions by 2030 (as compared to 2010 levels) is required to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius.

Accordingly, they agreed to develop a Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) to "urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation". Mitigation means reducing emissions, ambition means setting stronger targets and implementation means meeting new and existing goals.

Coming into COP27, developing countries had raised concerns that rich nations, through the MWP, will push them to revise their climate targets without enhancing the supply of technology and finance.

In the run-up to COP27, India had said the MWP cannot be allowed to "change the goal posts" set by the Paris Agreement.

"In the Mitigation Work Programme, best practices, new technologies and new modes of collaboration for technology transfer and capacity building may be discussed fruitfully," the Union Environment Ministry had said.

An analysis by Carbon Brief shows the U.S. has released more than 509 Gt CO2 since 1850 and is responsible for the largest share of historical emissions, with some 20% of the global total. China is a relatively distant second, with 11%, followed by Russia (7%). India is in seventh place, with 3.4% of the cumulative total.

Earth's global surface temperature has increased by around 1.15 degree Celsius as compared to the pre-industrial (1850–1900) average and the CO2 spewed into the atmosphere since the start of the industrial revolution is closely tied to it. Major damage had already been done before 1990 when economies like India started to develop.

According to "Global Carbon Budget Report 2022", more than half of the world's CO2 emissions in 2021 were from three places — China (31%), the U.S. (14%), and the European Union (8%). At the fourth spot, India accounted for 7% of the global CO2 emissions.

However, at 2.4 tCO2e (tonne carbon dioxide equivalent), India's per capita greenhouse gas emissions are far below the world average of 6.3 tCO2e, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) last month.

Per capita emissions in the U.S. (14 tCO2e) are far above the global average, followed by Russia (13 tCO2e), China (9.7 tCO2e), Brazil and Indonesia (around 7.5 tCO2e each), and the European Union (7.2 tCO2e).

 

[RiazHaq]

Paying for Climate Damage Isn’t Charity

By Ani Dasgupta

Mr. Dasgupta is the president and C.E.O. of the World Resources Institute.

Opinion | Paying for Climate Damage Isn’t Charity

It’s a down payment on a more stable future.

www.nytimes.com

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt — The climate crisis has reached new levels of devastation this year for millions of people in vulnerable countries that didn’t cause the problem. Floods in Pakistan, drought in the Horn of Africa and hurricanes in the Dominican Republic — all intensified by climate change — have ruined people’s livelihoods, causing losses so immense that it is hard for many in richer countries to even fathom.

For nearly three decades, the countries most vulnerable to climate disasters have asked wealthy countries to help them pay for the damage, only to be stonewalled.

At the annual United Nations climate conference this week, the issue is formally on the agenda, a breakthrough in itself. Encouragingly a smattering of wealthy countries, including Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium and Denmark, have started to pledge money — albeit small amounts.

These contributions are welcome, although some of the pledges reallocate funds from other pots of climate finance, or are putting money toward insurance, or early warning systems — not the kind of funding that poorer countries seek.

What these countries have been calling for, and urgently need, is a collective funding stream within the United Nations that helps them recover from devastating losses from disasters, rising seas and other climate impacts.

The United States and European Union must get behind this movement now. Specific details on how much money, where it comes from, who gets it and what qualifies take time to work out. But what’s critical at the current climate conference is that wealthy countries agree to a process, with clear deadlines, to pay for the damage.

It’s not a matter of charity. Taking action is firmly in rich countries’ own interests. As climate change bears down, more factories and ports around the world — the ones that wealthy nations rely on for their phones, car parts, fast fashion and even food — will close, devastating global supply chains. Food prices will rise. More people will be displaced, leading to additional migration crises. Conflict will grow more likely as people fight over land and water. The repercussions will destabilize even the most robust economies. Preventing that outcome now, by financing recovery from climate damage, will ensure a more stable future for everyone.

This kind of funding is called “loss and damage,” and it is meant to address climate impacts that people can’t simply adapt to. The concept may seem wonky, but it’s not: Loss has a name. Damage has an address.

Where do the millions in Pakistan turn now that they’ve been displaced by floods? What do small farmers in Kenya do when a prolonged drought makes it impossible to grow crops to feed their families? All over the world, people are facing excruciating decisions every day.

Rich countries generally have the resources to weather these climate impacts. In the United States last year, 54 percent of disaster-related losses were insured, compared to just 3 percent on average in the world’s 77 poorest countries.

The United States and European Union have rejected or stalled on this kind of financial assistance, raising concerns that committing funds for climate loss and damage could seem like an admission of guilt, and open the door to a flood of lawsuits. But the 2015 Paris agreement should already have put that concern to rest, since it makes clear that “averting, minimizing and addressing” loss and damage “does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation.”

Some developed countries claim that humanitarian aid already meets the need. It does not. Humanitarian aid provides immediate shelter and food relief after a disaster strikes, but is not available, for example, to the Fijian islander who must relocate because of rising seas, or the fisherman in Palau whose livelihood evaporates after tuna migrate to cooler waters.

The initial loss and damage commitments are politically important. Yet the need is exponentially greater — these costs worldwide could reach $290 billion to $580 billion in 2030, according to one estimate.

A new fund to hold parties responsible could change the lives of billions of people on the front lines of climate change, offering a path to recovery where none exists today. When a cyclone hits, a government could quickly apply for funding and distribute it to help people rebuild destroyed homes. For continuing issues like droughts, the money could help farmers diversify their skills when their original livelihoods are no longer viable. But it could also improve the lives of people in wealthy countries, by building resilience to global supply chains, by stabilizing the economies where their businesses import and export goods, by creating the conditions for a more peaceful world.

As Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said this week at the conference, “Countries in the Global North that have caused climate change and have the greatest access to resources have an obligation to step up.”

Any more stonewalling by wealthy nations on finance for loss and damage could derail the entire climate negotiations here in Egypt. The world’s ability to tackle climate change hinges on trust between developed and developing countries, and without concrete progress to address these severe losses and damage, that trust risks being broken.

 

[RiazHaq]

#COP27 : Fresh hope for climate talks after #climate "loss and damage" fund offer by rich nations. The devastating #FloodsInPakistan this summer, which killed about 1,700 people, have been a powerful backdrop to talks in #Egypt. #Pakistan #LossAndDamage https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63677463

A promise from the developed world to foot more of the climate bill has raised fresh hopes of breakthrough at the UN climate summit COP27.

Nations meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, worked late into Thursday night to find agreement over what has been the biggest sticking point.

The European Union has suggested a new fund to help poor nations deal with climate disaster.

Developing nations insist they will push for the best deal on the table.

Vulnerable nations including Pakistan, which leads developing countries here, say richer nations owe this money because they historically released most of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

The devastating floods in Pakistan this summer, which killed about 1,700 people, have been a powerful backdrop to talks in Egypt.

But rich nations are worried about signing a blank cheque. At the start of the summit, the US was adamant there would be no new fund, and it has been silent in negotiations, observers say.

In a possible breakthrough on Friday morning, the European Union proposed a special fund that would be funded by a "broad donor base".

That suggests that China, a country which now emits large amounts of greenhouse gases (those gases that warm the atmosphere), could contribute too.

China is usually in the same group as developing nations, and historically contributed little to global warming. But this fund could call on them to help pay the bill.

"It's great to see some leadership finally, but we'll see what we get out of this," Nisha Krishnan from the World Resources Institute told BBC News.

The EU's proposal "comes with strings attached" and it is not supported by all developing nations, says Prof Michael Wilkins at Imperial College Business School in London.

The question of this money, known as loss and damage, has dominated COP27. Nations at severe risk from climate disaster were pleased to get it on the agenda, after 30 years of trying.

The deal is not yet over the line.

Talking about the funding, Ms Krishnan said "this is the biggest thing that could make or break this conversation".

It will be important to see what the US does as well as China, she suggests.

Outside of the negotiation rooms, NGOs and activists continue to call for much stronger promises from COP27 on getting rid of fossil fuels.

 

[RiazHaq]

A deal was struck at the #COP27 climate talks to set up a fund that would pay for #climate-related damage in countries deemed particularly vulnerable. #Pakistan #lossanddamage #floods

WSJ News Exclusive | COP27 Strikes Deal on Fund for Poorer Countries Vulnerable to Climate Change

The agreement reached at the COP27 U.N. climate summit removes a major sticking point in broader talks to address global warming.

www.wsj.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1594070634622951424

-------

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt—A deal was struck at United Nations climate talks on Saturday to set up a fund that would pay for climate-related damage in countries deemed particularly vulnerable, officials said, handing a victory to poorer nations that have pushed for the move for years and removing a major sticking point in broader negotiations to address global warming.

The fund would earmark money for what is known as loss and damage: When rising seas, more powerful storms and other effects that scientists link to climate change cause destruction that is sudden or potentially irreparable.

Negotiators representing developed and developing countries agreed to the measure in the final hours of the COP27 U.N. climate summit held in this Egyptian seaside resort. Officials cautioned that the deal on loss and damage was part of a broader agreement that is still under negotiation. Wealthy nations want stronger commitments from developing countries to cut emissions in the coming decade in hopes of meeting the climate targets of the Paris accord. Those call for governments to limit temperature increases to well under 2 degrees Celsius and preferably 1.5 degrees compared with the preindustrial era.

The fund would be targeted toward poorer countries deemed most vulnerable, delegates said, a key demand from wealthy nations that didn’t want money flowing to China and other higher-income countries that are deemed to be developing under the U.N. climate treaty. As part of the process for creating the fund, countries would identify new sources of financing, officials said. Wealthy countries want China, oil-rich Persian Gulf states and other higher-income countries in the developing world to contribute.

Small island countries and low-lying nations such as Bangladesh have for decades sought money to pay for loss and damage. Wealthy countries, which are responsible for most of the greenhouse-gas emissions that have caused the earth to warm, have long resisted, fearing that agreeing to make payments would leave their governments and companies at risk of lawsuits.

A senior Biden administration official said Saturday’s deal wouldn’t create legal liability.

Heading into the talks, the U.S., Europe and other rich nations said that a new fund wasn’t necessary and that money for loss and damage can flow through existing institutions that provide climate finance for the developing world.

---------

European negotiators asked whether that was the position of AOSIS, whose members are also members of the Group of 77. The Maldives’ environment minister, representing AOSIS, asked for a 30 minute break to discuss the issue with the Group of 77.

Negotiators from the two groups returned to the room saying they were willing to support a fund that would be targeted to particularly vulnerable countries as the EU wanted.

In recent years, the demand for a separate fund became a rallying cry for poorer countries seen as most vulnerable to climate change. Many developing countries have pointed to the scale of monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan this year, which have left the country with losses and rebuilding costs assessed by the government and World Bank at $30 billion, as an example of what vulnerable countries could increasingly contend with. Less than half of Pakistan’s $816 million international emergency appeal has been funded.