Beijing supports idea of developed nations compensating developing economies, COP27 hears
A wind farm generates power for grids in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, on Aug 6, 2022. (YAO FENG / FOR CHINA DAILY)
China supports the proposal that developed countries compensate developing countries, especially those most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, for the loss and damage they suffer because of global climate change, Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate change, said on Nov 9.
At a news conference during the ongoing 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP27, in Egypt’s coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh, Xie said that “China, as a developing country, is very supportive of ‘loss and damage’ proposed by other developing countries, as we have been subject to the impact of extreme climate and are fully aware of the feelings of countries vulnerable to climate change.”
“We support the idea of establishing a special fund to address loss and damage,” he said. “Various parties need to join efforts to find a proper way for financing through negotiation.”
Countries at different stages of development have common but different responsibilities in addressing the “loss and damage” issue, Xie said, adding that China would like to cooperate with other developing countries to help them with climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Xie also urged developed countries to fulfill their promise of providing $100 billion to developing countries every year as soon as possible to help them fight climate change.
“Developed countries pledged to provide $100 billion every year in Copenhagen in 2009, but the commitment has not been honored 13 years later,” he said, adding a financing gap of $260 billion has accumulated over the past 13 years.
The topic of “loss and damage” has for the first time been included in the main agenda for discussion during the UN climate change summit.
Many developing countries have been arguing that they emit a fraction of greenhouse gases compared with industrialized countries, but are disproportionately impacted by the consequences of global climate change.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi called on developed countries to fulfill their climate pledges.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “At COP26 in Glasgow last year, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union offered support in the form of a Just Energy Transition Partnership.
“It is our hope that this partnership will offer a ground-breaking approach to funding by developed countries for the ambitious but necessary mitigation and adaptation goals of developing countries.”
William Ruto, president of Kenya, said during the COP27 conference that “loss and damage is not an abstract topic of endless dialogue: It is our daily experience and the living nightmare of millions of Kenyans and hundreds of millions of Africans”.
“Loss and damage must therefore be addressed with a level of seriousness, which demonstrates fairness, urgency and consideration,” he said.
Addressing the climate summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned: “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.”
Humanity must “cooperate or perish” in the face of international crises that have battered economies, he said. “It is either a climate solidarity pact, or a collective suicide pact.”
