"Loss and damage" - this is the keyword under which the world climate conference in Egypt is discussing who will foot the bill for damage caused by climate change. A first success is that this is an issue at all. However, there is still a long way to go before a separate fund is set up.
Dealing with the damage and losses that climate change is already causing all over the world is one of the sticking points of the negotiations at the UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz also draws attention to this topic at an event with Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, which the negotiators under the keyword "Loss and Damage" - in short: L
At the UN climate conferences, the fight against the causes of climate change and measures to adapt to global warming are in the foreground. Developing countries and small island states in particular have been pointing out for years that they are already feeling the effects of global warming.
They are therefore demanding additional financial aid from the industrialized countries. After all, the damage caused by an increase in extreme weather events such as floods and droughts is increasing - especially in the Global South, although this has contributed the least to global warming.
Increasing climate damage leads to growing debt in developing countries and more difficult access to the financial markets because of their climate risks. Many developing and island states are being "completely squeezed by the climate crisis," says Sabine Minninger from Bread for the World.
Developing countries and NGOs repeatedly refer to the polluter pays principle in view of the massive greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized countries. The industrialized countries, above all the USA, fear being obliged to pay enormous climate reparations and are therefore stepping on the brakes in the negotiations.
The V20 group alone, made up of 58 particularly endangered countries, put their costs at 525 billion dollars (587.3 billion euros) over the past 20 years. According to a study by the London School of Economics, climate-related damage and losses could increase to between $1 trillion and $1.8 trillion annually by 2050.
At the COP 2013 in Warsaw, the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage (WIM) was created to at least promote the exchange of experience and the gathering of knowledge on the subject. In 2019 the Santiago Loss
At last year's COP26 in Glasgow, developing countries and small island states could not resist calling for an L
In addition, the G7 founded the Global Protective Shield against Climate Risks this year under the German Presidency. This "Global Shield" is intended to bundle activities in the area of climate risk protection and prevention and to enable the rapid payment of aid. Germany wants to promote this initiative in Sharm el-Sheikh. It is also expected that the federal government will pledge a double-digit million amount for the "Global Shield" at COP27.
A first step forward was that loss and damage was anchored as a separate item on the negotiation agenda at the beginning of the conference. From the point of view of Sven Harmeling, L
However, this will be a hard struggle and the USA in particular will oppose this. It is conceivable that a kind of group of the willing will go ahead in the matter. Denmark, which was the first country to make specific financial commitments to deal with climate-related damage, could also be part of the party, as well as Canada, which has at least agreed in principle to such payments.
Germany, with its initiatives to deal with climate risks, could also play an important role. German Foreign Secretary Jennifer Morgan was previously appointed to mediate in the UN negotiations on loss and damage together with Chile's Environment Minister Maisa Roja.
