The European Union (EU) is expected to push this year’s host of COP28 climate summit, the UAE, to make a financial contribution towards a fund that will help poor countries hit hard by climate change, according to a Bloomberg report.
The move is expected to send a message that, besides the EU and the US, other countries like China and Saudi Arabia, should also help pay up for climate loss and damage.
Climate finance is expected to be one of the hot topics to be discussed at the COP28 gathering in Dubai later this month.
The previous United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) agreed to set up a Loss and Damage Fund to provide financial aid to countries that are most impacted by the risks of global warming, such as rising sea levels, increased intensity of storms, prolonged heat waves and bushfires, among many others.
A final meeting was held in Abu Dhabi recently to take up the fund and it was agreed that the World Bank will host it for a period of four years on an interim basis. A draft agreement that includes basic goals for the fund will be sent for world leaders to sign at the COP28 conference in Dubai.
However, the US State Department, whose representatives attended the Abu Dhabi meeting, regretted that the final agreement does not include the consensus reached about donations to the fund, AP reported earlier.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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