The EU and a group of 134 developing countries, which includes China, have reached an “in principle agreement” at Cop27 to establish a loss and damage fund.
On Saturday afternoon, with climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in overtime, a compromise text finally emerged. Subject to approval in a closing plenary, the deal offers hope of relief for victims of climate disaster.
Shauna Aminath, environment minister of the word’s lowest lying islands, the Maldives, emerged from the negotiating rooms smiling, hugging colleagues and taking selfies in the Sharm el-Sheikh sunshine on Saturday afternoon.
“That’s the reason,” ambassador Nabeel Munir, of Pakistan, chief negotiator for the G77 group, told Climate Home News. “Of course, it has to go to all the others first and then we will see. But I’m hopeful that it will be done,” he said.
An EU source confirmed the terms of the agreement.
Both sides agreed to decide to establish the fund as part of broader funding arrangements to address the damage inflicted by the climate crisis. These would include channels outside the UN Climate Change process, such as debt relief, insurance and potentially taxing oil and gas profits.
