The poor countries, which have only a limited responsibility in warming but suffer the consequences with full force, claim financial compensation.
by Audrey Garric
It was already a subject of extreme tensions between countries in the north and southern, whose dialogue is due to a thread. But since this summer of climatic disasters, which has seen Pakistan ravaged by floods or East Africa threatened with famine by drought, the question of irreversible damage caused by warming is currently imposed as the subject burning climate negotiations. This file, called “losses and damage”, has become a red line for many development states which require financial support, forcing the nations developed to develop their discourse.
“This is the decisive test for the success of the COP27”, the 27
Losses and damage, recognized by the 2015 Paris Agreement, refer to both the consequences of brutal climatic events, such as floods or cyclones, as slow effects of warming, like the Ascent of the sea level. They cover deaths, economic losses, forced migrations or the disappearance of cultural goods. These impacts cannot be avoided either by actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or by adaptation to climate change. In Pakistan, where more than 1,700 people are dead and where the bill is estimated at $ 30 billion, “it is now too late to make houses or cultures more resilient, illustrates Harjeet Singh. The subject is now to help People to rebuild their lives “.
one more burden
If the damage linked to warming strike all the territories, they more strongly affect developing countries, which lack the means to cope with it and minimize its effects. According to a recent oxfam report , 189 million people have been affected each year by extreme events in developing countries since 1991. One more burden for countries already strongly overwhelmed by debt. However, these states are the least responsible for climate change, since they contribute less to current programs and especially those past.
Conversely, developed countries have built their richness thanks to fossil fuels – coal, oil, gas -, main causes of warming. “The losses and damage arise from the failure of the North to reduce its emissions and provide the financial assistance promised to the countries of the South to adapt,” adds Inès Bakhtaoui, researcher associated with Stockholm Environment Institute.
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