The establishment of a fund to help poor nations getting hit hard by extreme weather events was one of the most significant decisions to come out of U.N. climate talks the last 30 years.
How the loss and damage fund will fit in with"other institutions, agencies that are out there doing humanitarian work, helping people rebuild, dealing with migration and refugee crises, dealing with food security, water security” will need to be worked out, said David Waskow, the World Resources Institute international climate director.
In the closing session Sunday, Antigua's Lia Nicholson said the transitional committee should be set up immediately and given clear mandates.There is a credibility gap because of past broken promises. In 2009, rich nations agreed to provide $100 billion a year to help developing countries transition to green energy systems and adapt to climate change. However, to date, that initiative has never been fully funded.One of the main reasons that rich nations long opposed such a loss and damage fund was the fear that it would open then up to long-term liability.
Despite those caveats, the establishment of such a fund could have repercussions, both legal and symbolic, in climate circles and beyond. For example, several Pacific Island nations have been pushing for the International Court of Justice to consider climate change. They argue that international laws must be strengthened to protect their rights in the case that their lands are engulfed by rising seas. The establishment of a loss and damage fund could bolster those arguments.
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