According to new reports, the Biden admin. has agreed to contribute to a United Nations fund to compensate countries harmed by climate change.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, is being hosted in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022. At COP27, there are delegates from around 190 countries.
There are plans to establish a fund to pay poor, developing countries for climate-related damages. According to multiple reports, the United States has now agreed to donate to the fund, which it had previously rejected.
According to the NY Times, “the U.S. is willing to approve the establishment of a fund to compensate poor, developing nations for climate harm, reversing decades of hostility and marking a huge breakthrough in one of the most controversial issues at the heart of UN climate discussions.”
“The shift means the United States will no longer obstruct a fund that has long been sought by poor nations swamped by flooding, heat, and droughts made more catastrophic by climate change,” the publication noted.
According to an unnamed Biden admin. insider, the US is “trying to sign on to a deal.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, “a compromise was achieved at UN climate talks on Saturday to establish a fund that would pay for climate-related destruction in countries deemed particularly susceptible, officials said, handing a triumph to poorer nations that have campaigned for the measure for years and removing a major stumbling block in broader efforts to combat global warming.”
According to reports, the fund would be used to compensate for damages caused by “rising seas, more violent storms, and other phenomena that scientists relate to climate change that produce havoc that is immediate or potentially permanent.”
However, because it is designated as a “developing country,” China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is technically entitled to receive funds from the climate crisis fund. In 2019, China was responsible for more than 27% of total world emissions, with the United States accounting for 11%.
China has yet to agree to contribute to the climate change fund.
