The nations most vulnerable to the ravages of the climate crisis are calling for increased commitments by wealthy nations to help them adapt to, and repair damages caused by climate impacts, following the release of a draft COP26 final document released Wednesday. The nations, which are also some of the least-responsible for the crisis, say wealthy nations must commit to cutting their own pollution, as well as provide more financial support to nations literally and figuratively inundated by sea level rise (and other impacts) and debt. Vulnerable nations are also calling for reimbursement for the irreparable “loss and damage” they have suffered because of climate change.
Developing nations are “held hostage to random acts of charity,” a delegate speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) told COP26 President Alok Sharma during a plenary session Monday. Bolivia, representing a group of 22 nations known at the Like-Minded Developing Countries, said they felt that developed countries were trying to transfer their responsibilities onto the developing world, in contradiction of the Common But Differentiated language in the Paris Agreement. (Thomson Reuters Foundation, InsideClimate News, CNN; Debt: Bloomberg $)