The 27th United Nations (U.N.) Climate Change Conference (COP27) was supposed to end on Friday, but it ran overtime this past weekend closing at dawn on Sunday. The delay was largely caused by a huge fight among negotiators over whether to set up a new fund financed by rich countries to pay poor countries what amounts to climate change reparations. The new fund would pay poor countries for loss and damage stemming from man-made climate change.
In the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, Article 8 recognizes "the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change including extreme weather events and slow onset events." In the climate change context, the term "loss and damage" describes the manifestation of climate change impacts that are not or cannot be avoided by adaptation (e.g., building infrastructure) and mitigation efforts (e.g., reducing greenhouse emissions). Extreme weather events include heat waves and flooding, while slow onset events encompass sea level rise and ocean acidification.
