UN climate talks end with money debate – Are you happy with that?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Again, the promised cash was not delivered.

Climate change: Bonn talks end in acrimony over compensation

By Matt McGrath
Environmental reporter, Bonn

Two weeks of climate negotiations in Germany ended in acrimony between rich and poor nations over cash for climate damage.

Developing countries say they are reeling from climate change caused by emissions from richer countries over hundreds of years.

They hope to get compensation on the official agenda for the world leaders’ discussions in November.

But in Bonn, they couldn’t get the US and the European Union to agree.

“The climate emergency is rapidly turning into a disaster,” said Conrod Hunte, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

“But inside these walls, the process seems out of step with reality, the pace is too slow,” he told delegates at the end of the meeting.

Developing countries say they need money to cope with the effects of climate change, as they are more affected than richer countries and have less financial capacity to cope.

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America and Europe disagree. They fear that if they pay for historic emissions, it could cost their country billions of dollars for decades or even centuries to come.

The problem is called “loss and damage“And that has become a sore point in these negotiations.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-enosystem-61819852

I’m sure things will be different next time. / Fleer