Climate change: Rich nations accused of ‘betrayal’ at Bonn talks

Rich countries have been accused of forsaking the developing world as the Bonn climate talks enter their final day. Poorer countries claim that a pledge to pay them for the damage caused by the emissions of richer countries will be fulfilled this year.

They believed that additional money would be put up to pay for the effects of climate change that they could not adapt to. However, they claim that the US and Europe have ignored the problem during meetings in Bonn.

A concept is known as “loss and damage” has become a crucial concern in global climate negotiations for many countries.

The developing world claims that historic carbon emissions from affluent countries are to blame for the climatic change they are experiencing. They claim that Europe and the United States are now responsible for compensating for these losses and damage.

The United States and Europe are at odds. They are concerned that if they pay for historic emissions, their governments may be liable for billions of dollars for decades, if not centuries.

The matter was brought to a climax during the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, where a “delicate compromise” was reached.

Poorer countries hoped that this largely technical summit would formally put loss and damage on the political agenda for the COP27 meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh in November. However, this has not yet occurred because other countries are opposed.

Many participants believe that if no progress is made, it will be a severe blow to unity ahead of COP27.

Climate activists went well beyond what the diplomats did.

Some targeted US climate envoy John Kerry, who warned that the globe would be “roasted” if carbon emissions were not reduced quickly.

“Countries in the Global South are doing everything they can to make the United States, the world’s largest historic emitter, pay for the harm they’ve caused,” said Rachel Rose Jackson of Corporate Accountability.

With only one day of talks remaining, there is a chance that a compromise can be reached to put loss and damage on the COP agenda in Egypt.