This is the term that we hear in all the aisles of the conference center, in the negotiation rooms as well as in the press briefings. And the one that risks bogging down COP27. The burning issue of “loss and damage”, this irreversible damage caused by the climate crisis, remained the stumbling block of the world climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt), a few hours before its official closing, scheduled Friday, November 18.
On Thursday, developing countries wanted to show a united front on this subject, which summarizes inequalities in the face of global warming. The southern states are the hardest hit by the impacts of hurricanes, droughts or rising sea levels, even though they have contributed the least to global warming. During a joint press conference, they once again called for the creation of a specific financing mechanism dedicated to “loss and damage”, and recalled that it should take place at this conference, and not later . “To delay climate justice is to deny climate justice”warned Sherry Rehman, the Pakistani minister for climate change, whose country chairs the powerful G77 + China negotiating group, which represents 134 countries, or 80% of humanity.
“We can’t let them down”
“The most vulnerable countries, responsible for a tiny part of greenhouse gas emissions, do not have the means to recover from the climatic disasters that strike them and hinder their development. We can’t let them down”explains Madeleine Diouf Sarr, head of the climate change division at Senegal’s environment ministry and president of the group of least developed countries, which represents 46 states (Bangladesh, Nepal, etc.). “It is up to the countries that have polluted to pay”, for his part defended Molwyn Joseph, Minister of the Environment of the Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda. A ” obligation morale »more than solidarity.
For thirty years, the rich countries, historically responsible for climate change, have constantly blocked this request for financial assistance, fearing that it will lead to legal proceedings and broader demands for compensation. COP26 in Glasgow, in 2021, had only decided to create a two-year “dialogue” on the issue. But after a summer of climatic disasters, which devastated Pakistan in particular, the debate is now unavoidable and developing countries have obtained, for the first time, the inclusion of “loss and damage” on the official agenda of climate negotiations.
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