Rich world must repair climate damage: NGOs

DOHA (AFP) - Dozens of NGOs urged the rich world Monday to repair the harm it has done to poor countries through global warming, saying the issue risked becoming "the biggest social injustice of our time."

In an open letter to cabinet ministers heading to UN climate talks in Doha, Qatar, more than 40 civil society groupings called on governments to create a "mechanism for compensation and rehabilitation."

"Poor countries and communities least responsible for the global climate crisis are also the most vulnerable," said the document that claims to speak on behalf of more than a million people concerned by climate change. "Given historic inaction by developed countries, we are heading towards the biggest social injustice of our time."

The letter was signed by bodies like the WWF, Greenpeace, Oxfam and ActionAid and issued mid-way through UN climate talks straining to come to an agreement on extending the Kyoto Protocol on curbing Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions and helping poorer countries.