Monetizing the weather: even more money will revolve around the climate

For the first time, compensation for climate disasters is an official topic of conversation at the climate summit. Rich countries have avoided this, because it is a question of whether and how they should compensate vulnerable countries for this damage.

Some European countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany, are going to offer additional financial assistance to poor countries facing damage from climate change. They announced this on Monday on the second day of the United Nations climate summit COP27, several news agencies report. At the opening ceremony, the participating countries also decided to officially add ‘loss and damage’ to the agenda for the first time. Previously, rich countries avoided the question of debt and their possible responsibility for climate change, because they do not want to pay for the damage.

The United Kingdom releases 100 million pounds (114 million euros). Germany is also ready to help developing countries affected by climate disasters. Svenja Schulze, the German minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, says that “industrialized countries have not responded adequately to the request for solidarity” of countries affected by climate change in recent years.

French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron urged wealthy non-European countries, including China and the United States, to provide financial assistance. “Europeans are paying. We are the only ones paying.”

Rich countries have pledged at previous climate conferences to spend at least $ 100 billion annually on climate action in poorer countries between 2020 and 2025. But that promise has not been fulfilled. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and development, which tracks whether this goal is met, in 2020, countries spent $ 83.3 billion on climate support for poorer countries.

Since 1995, every year, with the exception of Corona year 2020, a conference on global climate policy has taken place. The conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh is the 27th time that the parties participating in the United Nations climate convention meet.

At the climate conference in Paris, in 2015, it was agreed to limit the average temperature rise to “well below two degrees” compared to the time before the Industrial Revolution, and rather to one and a half degrees. But since the agreement is not legally binding, these goals are far from being achieved by everyone.

COP27 takes place from Sunday 6 November to Friday 18 November. This year, nearly two hundred countries are taking part in the climate talks. Many heads of state and government will be present.

Nick Schramm is tech savvy with strong engineering education behind. His interest in sciences helps the whole WeeklyNewsReview stuff to keep informed about various topics of the modern technology.