Her efforts to portray herself as a climate change leader at last year’s Glasgow summit suffered a major blow when she discovered her government had missed its renewable heat target by almost half. But she argued that she and her government had played a critical role in making the developed world sit up and pay attention to calls to pay reparations to developing countries that have suffered the effects of climate change. “Certainly the Scottish Government’s action at the start of Cop26 in Glasgow I think gave a real boost to the issue of loss and damage. You’ll hear a lot of people not associated with the Scottish Government saying that,” he told BBC Radio Scotland. “It’s arguable that it wouldn’t have been on the agenda this year if we hadn’t put such a focus on it in Glasgow, but this is a first step. It is very important to maintain this momentum.”
“Governments can act now for loss and damage if they want to”
Speaking ahead of a conference appearance on Tuesday at a debate on loss and damage, he said: “The funding announced by Scotland today is a small amount in terms of the overall scale of loss and damage facing developing countries, but I hope it sends an important message. “As Denmark and Wallonia have shown, governments can now act on loss and damage if we want to. We don’t have to wait for a consensus decision at Cop – we can start funding programs immediately.” The EU and US blocked a proposal at Glasgow talks to create a fund, agreeing instead to a “dialogue” with no clear end goal. In the past month, they have signaled a greater openness to discussing compensation at Cop27, but remain cautious about creating a fund amid fears of mounting liabilities. But Ms Sturgeon argued there was an obligation on richer countries in the “global north” that have largely caused climate change to help those suffering its impact.
