At 4:16 p.m. local time in Dubai, the gavel fell in the plenary hall of the World Climate Conference, although its impact was already largely lost in the applause. A fund for “damage and losses” in poorer countries as a result of climate change, which had been highly controversial for years, was suddenly real. The conference’s president, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, called it a “historic decision.”
Only a year earlier in Egypt, developing countries had managed to put such a fund on the agenda. This had always failed before because of the iron blockade of the USA and the European Union. They feared being held liable for the increasingly visible damage caused by stronger storms, floods, heat waves or rising sea levels.
The old industrialized countries are now being asked to deposit money voluntarily
There is no such legal right to money in the agreement that has now been decided. That was the red line between Americans and Europeans. The old industrialized countries, which have contributed a lot to global warming through their decades-long use of fossil fuels, are now simply being asked to pay in money voluntarily. Like all other countries.
Nevertheless, the response to the decision was almost euphoric. Even in the critical environmental and climate protection scene. The host Emirates immediately placed $100 million, followed by the federal government, for which Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) announced the same amount. The USA, Great Britain and Japan also promised millions on Thursday.
Some poorer countries see the fund as a kind of reparations payment from the rich
This money is necessary to install the fund at the World Bank and get it up and running. The fund will then help poorer countries get back on their feet after extreme natural disasters. According to financial experts, an amount of 100 billion US dollars annually will probably be needed in the future, which is why new revenues are being discussed, for example from taxes on shipping and air traffic, a financial transaction tax or extra taxes for oil and gas companies.
The Finn Outi Honkatukia made it clear that the agreement had not gone smoothly. She was one of the two chairs of the panel that tried to agree on a framework for the fund among the 196 member states of the UN climate convention. “It wasn’t an easy road,” said Honkatukia, and she and her co-chair from South Africa had to go through experiences that they would never want to have again.
The pressure from all sides was apparently enormous; some poorer countries see the fund as a kind of mandatory reparations payment from the rich. The result of the negotiations is now a “glimmer of hope for all those particularly at risk from climate change around the world,” said the Finn.