COP27: Pakistan welcomes ‘loss and damage’ deal at UN summit
- A third of the nation was submerged by flooding this year, with more than 1,700 killed and 33 million scrambling to survive
- Officials said agreement a ‘win for developing world’ in honour of millions who suffer from climate catastrophe they did not create
A breakthrough funding deal at the Cop27 conference to help poor countries ravaged by climate change was welcomed on Sunday by Pakistan, a nation devastated this year by record-breaking monsoon rains.
Fatal flooding likely worsened by global warming submerged a third of Pakistan’s territory, killed over 1,700 people, left 33 million scrambling to survive and caused an estimated US$40 billion in losses to the economy.
Pakistani officials, who had framed the country as a victim of climate change and sought compensation from bigger polluting nations, called the funding deal “a step in reaffirming the core principles of climate justice”.
The compensation agreement hammered out early on Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh establishes funding for “loss and damage” suffered by poor countries as a result of global warming.
It is a big win for developing nations that have long called for cash, sometimes viewed as reparations, because they are often the victims of climate-worsened floods, droughts, heatwaves, famines and storms despite having contributed little to the pollution that heats up the globe.
It has also long been called an issue of equity for nations hit by weather extremes and small island states that face an existential threat from rising seas.
“Three long decades and we have finally delivered climate justice,” said Seve Paeniu, the finance minister of Tuvalu. “We have finally responded to the call of hundreds of millions of people across the world to help them address loss and damage.”
