Climate-Vulnerable Nations Step Up Loss-And-Damage Demands

(Bloomberg) -- A group of the most-vulnerable nations to global warming plan to step up demands for compensation at the international climate summit scheduled for November.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum, which represents 55 countries including island-nations threatened by rising sea levels such as the Maldives and poor African states struggling with droughts and floods, made compensation for damage from events tied to global warming their key demand. The funding should come from wealthy nations that have historically contributed the most to global warming through greenhouse gas emissions, it said.

“We call for the establishment of a dedicated international funding commitment and mechanisms to address climate change loss and damage by responsible - wealthy, capable and highly polluting - nations,” the group said in a statement released at a meeting of African nations in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Tuesday ahead of the COP27 climate summit.

The forum, also representing nations in the Middle East and the Caribbean, includes Bangladesh which was this year hit by devastating floods, and Ethiopia which is suffering its worst drought in four decades. They argue that since they have contributed little to global warming in the form of emissions, they shouldn't have to pay for the damage caused.

The CVF, formed in the Maldives in 2009, also called for rich nations to honor previous funding pledges for climate adaptation and mitigation.

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