A Core Question at COP27: Who Will Pay for Climate Change?

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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/06/climate/cop27-climate-change-loss-damage.html

By Elena Shao, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: When world leaders gather in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, this week for the annual United Nations climate summit, the debate over who bears financial responsibility for climate change will be center stage. Poor nations, which have contributed the least to climate change but are among the most vulnerable to its effects today, are seeking more financial commitments from rich countries, many of which have grown their economies by burning fossil fuels.… [COP = Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC] [UNFCCC = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] See also The World Is Falling Short of Its Climate Goals. Four Big Emitters Show Why. and "US falling $32bn short on ‘fair share’ of $100bn climate-finance goal" [https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-us-falling-32bn-short-on-fair-share-of-100bn-climate-finance-goal] By Josh Gabatiss, Simon Evans, CarbonBrief. Excerpt: The US should be paying nearly $40bn towards the $100bn climate-finance target, new Carbon Brief analysis shows. This is $32bn more than the estimated $8bn it actually gave in 2020. Other laggards include the UK, Canada and Australia, which all made smaller financial contributions to the internationally agreed target than their shares of historical emissions. The analysis compares national shares of historical emissions with proportionate contributions to the $100bn climate finance target. Developed countries agreed at the COP15 climate summit in 2009 to deliver this funding by 2020. The US, for example, is responsible for 52% of the historical emissions added to the atmosphere by Annex II countries. This is the list of “developed” or “industrialised” nations legally obliged to give climate finance under the terms of the UN climate convention.…

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