Cop 27: US lawmakers push for loss and damage funding

A group of progressive US lawmakers is urging the administration of US President Joe Biden to support swift action to address loss and damage at this year's UN Cop 27 climate conference.

The group, led by US Minnesota democrat representative Ilhan Omar and New York democrat representative Jamaal Bowman, yesterday asked US climate envoy John Kerry to back the creation of a loss and damage funding facility under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the negotiations being held in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. The term refers to the destructive impact of global warming and is a priority for many vulnerable countries experiencing extreme climate-related events such as storms and rising sea levels.

The lawmakers said the US, as the leading emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) historically, has "moral and a strategic responsibility" to support loss and damage funding for countries that have "disproportionately" suffered the harms of climate change. Action by US would also prompt other countries to follow suit, they said.

"Our leadership in supporting loss and damage financing would pave the way for transformative improvements in the global response on climate," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Kerry.

In addition, they called for the funding to be grant-based, rather in the form of loans that critics say made developing nations more indebted to their more developed counterparts.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The next steps on loss and damage have been a major issue at Cop 27. Countries remain divided on what progress should look like on this issue, with developing countries pushing for a new funding facility to be agreed at this Cop, as called for by the US lawmakers, while developed nations are looking for an outcome in the next months or years.

One of the arguments put forward by the US and the EU for not agreeing on establishing a fund at this Cop, is that parties do not yet know what shape it would take. There is no full definition on "what a facility is or what shape it might take," Kerry said on 12 November.

By Michael Ball