Delegations representing several small and impoverished nations severely threatened by climate change on Saturday walked out of consultations as went far into overtime without clinching a deal on helping nations most at risk.
“We’re here as a group of AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States) and LDCs (Least Developed Countries). We’ve just walked out,” said Cedric Schuster, the Samoan chairman of the group.
“We came here to this COP for a fair deal. We feel that we haven’t been heard, and there’s a deal to be made, and we have not been consulted … [W]e’ve walked out because at the moment, we don’t feel that we are being heard,” Schuster said.
The walkout comes as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock slammed rich fossil fuel emitters, whom she accused of having “ripped off” those states most at risk from climate change.
“We are in the midst of a geopolitical power play by a few fossil fuel states,” Baerbock said.
“We have to do everything to come toward the 1.5 degree (Celsius, 2.7 Fahrenheit) pathway,” she said, referring to the target of keeping global warming below that temperature limit compared with preindustrial times.
Dissatisfaction among at-risk nations
Developing nations have asked for $1.3 trillion (€1.25 trillion) to help them adapt to the immediate consquences of climate change, such as droughts, floods, rising sea levels and extreme heat.
They say that sum would also help pay for losses and damages caused by extreme weather events, and aid them to wean their energy production from fossil fuels.
An official draft on Friday pledged $250 billion annually by 2035.
Although that more than doubles the previous goal of $100 billion set 15 years ago, it falls far short of the demands of at-risk nations.
A rough draft for a deal discussed on Saturday was for more, sources said, but still not in line with developing nations’ demands.
More to follow.
tj/lo (AFP, AP)
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