Climate summit almost over: 3 suggestions on how affected countries should get money Italian police arrest several suspected smugglers

At the world climate conference, the dispute about compensation payments to poorer countries for climate-related damage seems to be moving. After deliberations late Thursday night, participants from about 200 states presented a five-page draft of three possible concrete steps on the topic.

Mentioned are the immediate establishment of a new fund, or the establishment of a new fund at the next climate conference in Dubai at the end of 2023, and a more general “financing agreement”.

With the draft, an agreement on the biggest bone of contention at this year’s conference seems within reach. The concept of damage and losses is used to discuss how to cope with the consequences of climate change in poorer countries, which often contributed less to the damage. More than 130 of the approximately 200 participants advocate the definitive establishment of a financial pot.

The newspaper speaks of the “urgent and immediate need for new, additional, predictable and appropriate financial resources” on the subject. This should support developing countries that are most vulnerable to damage caused by climate change.

In the plenum, EU climate commissioner Frans Timmermans made a bid for a fund financed by a “broad donor base”. The fund should be part of a “mosaic of solutions”, which also looks at debt and reforming development banks. Equally important are progress in reducing climate-damaging emissions, Timmermans said. These measures and the problem of damage and losses are “two sides of the same coin”.

“The talk of damage and loss is overdue,” said UN climate chief Simon Stiell. “We have heard encouraging statements about a willingness to be flexible and compromise,” said Jennifer Morgan, the special representative for international climate policy at the State Department, who is acting as one of two facilitators on the issue.

There is no precise definition of damage and loss. However, the term usually includes damage from extreme weather events – such as drought or flooding – and from slow changes in the course of global warming, such as rising sea levels or desertification. It is about consequences that go beyond what people can adapt to, or about situations where the means to adapt are lacking.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres flew back to Egypt after the G20 summit in Bali to exert pressure. “The climate clock is ticking and confidence continues to decline,” he warned. The participants of the climate conference could change something here and now. “I call on you to act — and quickly,” he warned about 24 hours before the meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, was scheduled to end on Friday night, according to its official schedule. However, an extension was almost certain.

According to Egyptian COP chairman Samih Schukri, no result has yet been achieved in the field of climate change containment. The international community is expected to reaffirm the goal of stopping global warming at 1.5 degrees. How this is to be achieved concretely is much more controversial: the first published key points called for a phase-out of climate-damaging coal – but not a farewell to oil and gas. (sda/dpa)