COP27 | Loss and Damage funding deal saves an otherwise forgettable climate summit

COP27 | Loss and Damage funding deal saves an otherwise forgettable climate summit

Sharm- El-Sheikh failed to address the main cause of Climate Change: the use of fossil fuels





November 21, 2022 / 12:07 PM IST





Government and business must walk hand in hand to make decarbonisation succeed. (Source: GettyImages)



The good news from the COP27 at Sharm El-Sheikh, the creation of the long-due Loss and Damage Fund is eclipsed by what the annual climate summit of the UNFCCC failed to deliver — for rich countries to come clean on the promise and delivery of much-awaited climate finance, and the ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by phasing out all fossil fuels in the timeline required to limit warming to 1.5 C as required by science.

For nearly 30 years, since the 1992 Rio Earth summit, island nations, vulnerable states, developing countries, and civil society have been calling on the rich countries for Loss and Damage funds to cope with the severe impacts of extreme weather on the physical and social infrastructure of poor countries, and the financial assistance needed to rescue and rebuild them. It is about rich countries acknowledging the consequences of their historical emissions, climate inaction, and responsibility for the crisis they have caused.

The announcement in Egypt is, therefore, seen as