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Rishi Sunak has dealt a blow to developing countries worst hit by climate change by shunning calls for the UK to contribute to reparations for the natural disasters caused by hundreds of years of industrial pollution. Thirty-year-old calls for a fund to pay for permanent loss and damage caused by extreme weather were first discussed on the floor of the Cop27 climate change conference in Egypt, with calls for the UK and other wealthy nations to join The Belgium, Denmark and Scotland pledge cash. However, the prime minister made no mention of the issue in his five-minute speech in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, instead re-committing a 2020 pledge of £11.6 billion in climate finance over five years, trebled to 1 UK £.5 billion. contributing to measures to strengthen resilience to future disasters. Handing over the chairmanship of the United Nations climate change process after last year’s UK-hosted Glasgow summit, Mr Sunak insisted there was “room for hope” if the fight against climate change became “a global mission for new positions employment and clean growth”. Renewable energy. But his upbeat tone clashed with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ warning that the world is “on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the gas”. “We are in the fight of our lives and we are losing,” Mr Guterres told delegates. “Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Global temperatures continue to rise. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.” Former US Vice President Al Gore called for an end to the “culture of death” represented by fossil fuel extraction. “We continue to use the thin blue atmosphere as an open sewer,” he said. “It’s steadily getting worse. We’re not doing enough.” In Glasgow, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon took the highly symbolic step of pledging £2 million to an international “loss and damage” fund. Scotland’s initiative has since been followed by Denmark and Belgium, which on Monday announced €2.5m (£2.2m) in funding for Mozambique. On Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon announced a further £5m and urged other countries to follow suit. “I think what’s important here at Cop27 is that we find common ground and make progress towards serious funding,” Ms Sturgeon told The Independent. “The countries in the global North that have caused climate change and have the most access to resources have an obligation to step up.” Campaigners at Cop27 called on Britain to follow suit. “The UK has largely dragged its feet on loss and damage,” said Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa think tank. “We need them to step up.” Alejandra Padin-Dujon, of the Catholic charity Cafod, said London should commit billions, not millions, to repair the damage caused by floods, fires and cyclones caused by global warming. “The UK has not consistently shown leadership in this area,” Ms Padin-Dujon said. “Casualties and damage have skyrocketed.” A number of leaders from developing countries and small island states described how extreme weather had caused disasters costing hundreds of billions of pounds. By 2030, losses and damages are estimated to cost developing countries somewhere between $290bn (£250bn) and $580bn per year. By mid-century, it is projected to rise between $1.132 billion and $1.741 billion. Nabeel Munir, the envoy for Pakistan, where recent floods have left nearly a third of the country underwater, said that for Cop27 to be considered a success, it must deliver “something clear and tangible” on a damage and loss financing mechanism, with an eventual agreement no later than Cop29 in 2024. Floods in Pakistan have left almost a third of the country under water (Associated Press) And Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said energy giants fueling climate change should pay 10 percent of their profits into a damage and loss fund, along with developed countries such as the United Kingdom. “How do oil and gas companies make $200 billion in the last three months and not expect to contribute?” asked. “Our people on this Earth deserve better and our leaders know better. I ask the people of the world to hold us accountable. The choice is ours – what will we choose to save?” Ahead of this week’s summit, Mr Guterres described a damage and loss fund as a “moral imperative that cannot be ignored” at Cop27. Cabinet minister Grant Shapps signaled on Monday that the UK “supports discussions” about reparations, saying: “We industrialized first and we appreciate that the rest of the world should be able to come along as well.” And French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time for the global North to “come to terms with the idea of economic solidarity”. But Mr Sunak’s official spokesman insisted: “We are not talking about compensation or liability. We are talking about continuing to support countries to adapt to the effects of climate change.” Boris Johnson declares ‘the spirit of Glasgow’ at Cop27 And former prime minister Boris Johnson suggested reparations were out of reach for developed countries. “Two hundred years ago, we started it all and there’s no doubt that per capita, people in the UK have put a lot of carbon into the atmosphere,” he told a meeting on the sidelines of the summit. “But what we can’t do is make up for it with some sort of reparations. We just don’t have the financial resources – and no country could.” Mr Sunak risks a possible revolt from his own MPs if he accepts the principle of reparation for past damage. Former minister David Jones, a member of the climate skeptic Net Zero Scrutiny Group, told the Independent: “I don’t think we should be signing the first check on what could become a book full of blank cheques. “I think we have to be very, very careful about doing something that’s symbolic. Our overseas aid budget has been reduced recently, but it’s been one of the most generous in the world. I think that’s what the government should be focusing on ». Oxfam’s GB chief executive Danny Sriskandarajah said Mr Sunak’s silence on the loss and damage was “deafening”. “Rich nations like the UK, which have done most to contribute to climate change, have a moral obligation to provide funding to help low-income countries deal with the devastating effects of an escalating climate crisis they did little to cause,” he said. Mariana Paoli, head of global advocacy at Christian Aid, said the UK was “blocking progress behind the scenes” on loss and damage. “Rishi Sunak cannot claim to be a green leader while ignoring the plight of the most vulnerable,” he said.
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs Show all 10
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Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Fatima-Tuj-Johora
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Loss and Damage: Fighting Human Harm, Huge Climate Costs
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage
COP27 Climate Loss and Damage Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Mary Friel, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the human experience of the effects of climate change “requires recognition and requires funding”. He called on the UK to commit funds and push for loss and damage to be made a permanent item on the agendas of future climate summits. James Cameron, a Cop26 adviser in Glasgow appointed by the UK government, denied the UK was “backwards” on the issue, with Cop26 chairman Alok Sharma acting as a “very good diplomatic envoy” to put it on the agenda. But Labour’s climate change spokesman, Ed Miliband, dismissed Mr Sunak’s speech as “hollow and empty”. “As Rishi Sunak preaches clean energy abroad, he is the man blocking the wind onshore [power] at home, while giving huge tax breaks to fossil fuel companies who are making billions in windfall profits at the expense of the British people,” Mr Miliband said.
