(The Guardian) Climate experts call out US for blocking 'loss and damage' funds
As the US climate envoy John Kerry walked the halls of the conference centre today, civil society climate experts called out “America’s decades-long game plan of denial, delay and deception” when it comes to ‘loss and damage’.
In what’s clearly become the red line for climate-vulnerable countries and climate justice advocates, Harjeet Singh, a senior adviser at the Climate Action Network (CAN), said: The US has for decades acted in bad faith with regards to loss and damage, but the delays and deception have real life consequences. We need to agree on a funding facility at this Cop so we can work on making it operational by 2024, and the US needs to change from being obstructive to constructive.
Loss and damage refers to the money needed to cover the vast economic, cultural and social consequences of the climate crisis that have already happened or are too late to avert with either adaptation or mitigation - impacts mostly being experienced by the countries that have least contributed to the greenhouse gases causing global heating. For years, the US and other large polluters including the EU, UK, Canada, and Australia have used their political and economic muscle to block and delay progress on setting up such a fund that is desperately needed by island nations and other vulnerable countries.
Amid growing criticism, Kerry softened his language in the run-up to the summit, claiming that the US is open to discussions on loss and damage. After a hard-fought battle over the weekend, it is on the Cop agenda for the first time. But the US is pushing for another two years of dialogue - a delayRachel Rose Jackson from the Union of Concerned Scientists said would be a “severe, unjust blow for those suffering the worst effects of the climate crisis”.
Jackson added: The litmus test for Cop27 is meaningful progress on loss and damage, which means the US needs to stop obstructing so we can establish a funding facility this year.
Separately, Austria announced $50m for climate loss and damage, shortly after Scotland’s first minister pledged an additional £5m to support developing countries with direct finance to cope with the unavoidable, devastating impacts of the climate crisis. This means that five European countries - Austria, Scotland, Belgium, Denmark and Germany - have committed to fund the loss and damage finance mechanism that the US wants to avoid.
As the US climate envoy John Kerry walked the halls of the conference centre today, civil society climate experts called out “America’s decades-long game plan of denial, delay and deception” when it comes to ‘loss and damage’.
In what’s clearly become the red line for climate-vulnerable countries and climate justice advocates, Harjeet Singh, a senior adviser at the Climate Action Network (CAN), said: The US has for decades acted in bad faith with regards to loss and damage, but the delays and deception have real life consequences. We need to agree on a funding facility at this Cop so we can work on making it operational by 2024, and the US needs to change from being obstructive to constructive.
Loss and damage refers to the money needed to cover the vast economic, cultural and social consequences of the climate crisis that have already happened or are too late to avert with either adaptation or mitigation - impacts mostly being experienced by the countries that have least contributed to the greenhouse gases causing global heating. For years, the US and other large polluters including the EU, UK, Canada, and Australia have used their political and economic muscle to block and delay progress on setting up such a fund that is desperately needed by island nations and other vulnerable countries.
Amid growing criticism, Kerry softened his language in the run-up to the summit, claiming that the US is open to discussions on loss and damage. After a hard-fought battle over the weekend, it is on the Cop agenda for the first time. But the US is pushing for another two years of dialogue - a delayRachel Rose Jackson from the Union of Concerned Scientists said would be a “severe, unjust blow for those suffering the worst effects of the climate crisis”.
Jackson added: The litmus test for Cop27 is meaningful progress on loss and damage, which means the US needs to stop obstructing so we can establish a funding facility this year.
Separately, Austria announced $50m for climate loss and damage, shortly after Scotland’s first minister pledged an additional £5m to support developing countries with direct finance to cope with the unavoidable, devastating impacts of the climate crisis. This means that five European countries - Austria, Scotland, Belgium, Denmark and Germany - have committed to fund the loss and damage finance mechanism that the US wants to avoid.
