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The United States will participate in the creation of and contribute to a fund that will pay developing countries to address climate change.
The fund, which was negotiated at the United Nations’ COP27 summit, was originally known as a “loss and damage fund” and had been blocked by previous US administrations.
The nations involved are largely from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific, who see the case as revenge for a crisis they did not contribute to, but which they believe could nevertheless destroy.
The money will be used to help them deal with disasters such as floods and droughts that they say have been exacerbated by climate change.
An official from the Biden administration confirmed the decision to the New York Times Saturday.
However, there will be obstacles, especially as both the US and the European Union require China to pay into the fund. The UN still labels communist China a “developing country.”
It will also be a challenge to get a soon-to-be Republican-controlled Congress to approve the additional funds after being awarded $1 billion as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
This is an evolving story.
The United States will participate in the creation of and contribute to a fund that will pay developing countries to address climate change
China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua on Saturday welcomed the resumption of formal talks with US counterpart John Kerry as “very constructive” as the world’s two biggest polluters ended a freeze on their cooperation.
The senior officials met at the UN’s COP27 conference in Egypt after US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed at a G20 summit in Indonesia earlier this week to resume cooperation on climate change.
Beijing suspended talks in August amid anger over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Cooperation between the superpowers is essential in the fight against global warming and has led to breakthroughs at previous UN climate conferences, most notably the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.
Xie described his conversations with Kerry in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as “candid, friendly, positive” and “generally very constructive.”
“We have agreed that after this COP we will continue formal talks, including face-to-face meetings,” he told reporters, recalling that he has known Kerry for more than 20 years.
But he also highlighted ongoing disagreements with Western countries and rejected the idea that China should no longer be considered a developing country, even though it is now the world’s second-largest economy.
That distinction of status is essential: Under the terms of a fundamental 1992 UN climate treaty, developed countries are expected to financially assist developing countries in their energy transition and efforts to build resilience to climate impacts.
The Paris Agreement, Xie said, “also made it very clear that the responsibility for providing financing … lies with developed countries.”
The issue was at the center of a controversial debate at COP27 over the creation of a ‘loss and damage fund’ to compensate poorer countries already devastated by the effects of global warming.
Flooding in Pakistan this year, for example, has displaced millions of people and caused $30 billion in damage and economic loss, according to the World Bank.
The European Union argued that China and other developing countries such as Saudi Arabia, which have become richer, should be among the financial contributors.
The EU also insisted that the loss and damage fund be used to help the most ‘vulnerable’ countries, meaning it could exclude China as a recipient of aid.
“I hope it can be provided to the fragile countries first. But the recipients should be developing countries,” Xie said. “But give it to those who need it most first.”
Rich countries and developing countries were close to an agreement on the issue on Saturday.
Egypt’s COP27 presidency has been heavily criticized by delegates over its handling of the two-week conference, with complaints about a lack of transparency and drafts released late in the game.
But Xie said the hosts had worked “under the principles of transparent, open and party-driven consensus.”