Climate: ‘It’s about time’ to take ‘loss and damage’ seriously, says UN chief

It is “time for serious discussion” and “meaningful action” on the damage caused by climate change already being suffered, particularly by developing countries, the UN secretary-general said on Wednesday.

Less than two months before COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Antonio Guterres and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, from a distance, gathered several leaders of developed and developing countries behind closed doors for “frank exchanges on climate action.”

“My messages have been clear. On the climate emergency: the +1.5°C target is under ventilator. And it is weakening rapidly,” the UN secretary-general said, referring to the Paris agreement’s more ambitious goal of limiting warming to +1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era.

“We are heading towards +3°C.”

Under these conditions, he called on governments to address “four burning issues” between now and COP27: raising ambitions in terms of reducing emissions, helping the most vulnerable countries, adapting to impacts and their financing, which must be increased, and finally “loss and damage”.

This last point, which has become a crucial element of the climate negotiations, refers to the damage already caused by the multiplication of extreme weather events, which neither measures to curb global warming nor those to adapt to its consequences have been able to prevent. And so developing countries demand compensation.

“It is time to have a serious discussion and meaningful action on this issue,” Guterres insisted.

“I hope COP27 in Egypt goes ahead,” he added, seeing it as a matter of “climate justice, international solidarity and confidence-building.”

At COP26 in Glasgow at the end of 2021, despite pressure from developing countries advocating for specific funding for these losses and damages, rich countries blocked this request and the meeting simply resulted in the launch of a “dialogue” until 2024.

A few days ago, the group of least developed countries meeting in Dakar put this demand back on the table, calling for the establishment of a “financing mechanism” to deal with the damage caused by global warming.

Source: News ES Euro