Rich and developing nations clash over climate fund
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President-designate of the COP28 talks, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, is expecting countires to deliver results ahead of the Nov 30 to Dec 12 COP28 summit.
PHOTO: AFP
PARIS - Wealthy and developing nations were at loggerheads in talks on Friday over a fund for the increasingly destructive impacts of global warming, as the president of next month’s UN climate talks urged countries to “deliver”.
The agreement to set up a dedicated fund to help vulnerable countries cope with climate “loss and damage” was a flagship achievement of last year’s COP27 talks in Egypt.
But countries left the details to be worked out later.
A series of talks held this year have tried to tease out consensus on fundamentals like the structure, beneficiaries and contributors – a key issue for richer nations who want China to pay into the fund.
On the final day of meetings on Friday, just weeks ahead of the Nov 30 to Dec 12 COP28 talks in Dubai, nations remained deadlocked, with developing countries accusing the United States and others of hindering progress.
“We are out of time,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of the COP28 talks.
“I expect you to deliver.”
He reiterated calls for countries to step up early with pledges of funding, to ensure the fund was not an “empty bank account”.
In an address to negotiators, he said millions of people had continued to suffer the devastating impacts of climate change since the last COP, with this year seeing a relentless cascade of extremes across the planet.
“What are we doing about it? We continue to deliberate, we continue to negotiate, we continue to go in circles,” said Dr Jaber, who is also the head of United Arab Emirates state-owned oil firm ADNOC.
“If I don’t see real and tangible results that will not be acceptable.”
On Friday, an observer at the meeting said it was in “deadlock”, with discussions notably stumbling over the location of the fund.
While many developing countries want a new, fully independent structure, other nations have argued this would create a cumbersome new bureaucracy that may take years to set up.
A proposal to place the fund within the World Bank has proved particularly contentious in recent days.
Climate campaigners blamed the United States for pushing the idea, which developing countries said was unacceptable.
“It is very unfortunate that some of our partners have come here with a very fixed idea of the World Bank,” Mr Pedro Luis Pedroso, the Cuban ambassador who chairs the important G77+China negotiating group, said on Thursday. AFP
