COP 27: Can World Leaders Be Trusted to Deliver?:

The devastation shows how “the world is failing to invest in
protecting the lives and livelihoods of those on the front line,” said
UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a video posted in the run-up to
COP 27. He called the conference a critical “litmus test” for
rebuilding trust between developed and developing countries, and for
meaningful outcomes around loss and damage, reports Reuters.

Loss
and damage finance would help cover the disproportionate destruction
already facing countries like Pakistan—nations that are unable to adapt
fast enough, unprepared for extreme weather, and have contributed very
little to the problem based on their per capita emissions. But for more
than 30 years, securing financing from more developed countries has been like pulling teeth during climate negotiations.

“Rich
governments did not want to be held financially liable for the impacts
of their historically high emissions,” Reuters explains. Glasgow’s COP
26 failed to make progress on loss and damage, except for a £1-million funding announcement from Scotland. A 2009 pledge for an annual US$100 billion in international climate finance was also left unmet.

“The
rich world has created the climate crisis, they have agreed they will
pay to clean it up, but they have broken their promise and left those
that have done the least to cause it to suffer and try and cope with the
consequences,” said Khadija Mohamed Al Makhzoumi, Somalia’s minister
for environment and climate change.