Climate Damage Offer Brings New Optimism At End Of COP27

The COP27 talks are nearing their end with a promising win for poorer nations experiencing the brunt of human-caused climate change.

Delegations convened into the evening on Thursday to find a solution to the conference's most prominent and controversial talking point of the conference; payment to poor countries to battle the effects of climate change.

At the insistence of the Pakistan delegation, the topic of reparations, called 'loss and damages,' was added to the UN climate conference for the first time. The initial debate on the issue lasted over 48 hours. The issue stems from poorer nations facing the most severe consequences of climate change without adding to the global carbon footprint.

Pakistan contributes less than one percent to global carbon emissions. This year, a heavier-than-usual monsoon season and melting glaciers put one-third of Pakistan underwater in August, killing an estimated 1,500 people. Heavy-polluting countries, such as the U.S., are hesitant to offer reparations because of the potential legal liability.

On Friday morning, the European Union backed a proposed climate fund that would be funded through a "broad donor base." The 27-state European Union endorses the G77 group of 134 developing countries by supporting the deal. The deal comes with some caveats and is still in negotiation, one being that the fund would only aid "the most vulnerable countries" instead of all developing countries, as the G77 wanted.

Climate activists, environmental groups, and poorer countries considered the addition to loss and damage to the conference agenda a win, 30 years in the making.

The two-week COP27, being hosted at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, has been criticized for lack of initiative and focus on climate change, with fears negotiations would break down over money. The climate conference was initially scheduled to end on Friday and is now expected to end Saturday.

"I remain committed to bring this conference to a close tomorrow in an orderly manner, with the adoption of a series of consensus decisions that will be comprehensive, ambitious, and balanced," COP27 President Sameh Shoukry said to reporters.

The BBC reported that the U.S. delegation has made it clear the country does not agree with the payment of reparations and has been silent during the discussion.

The first official draft of the COP27 was published on Friday morning but did not include loss and damages. The deal recommits itself to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement that aims to limit global temperatures from warming past 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Before the start of the conference, the U.N. Environment Program released a report that the world was falling short of the goals set with the Paris Climate Agreement and that, at this time, there is "no credible pathway" towards limiting emissions to 1.5 degrees C unless system-wide measures are taken.