As negotiators at COP27 wrangle over whether wealthy polluters should help vulnerable nations pay for costly extreme weather events fueled by climate change, a handful of small, European governments has stepped up to offer "loss and damage" funds.
The modest tally so far is nowhere near the hundreds of billions of dollars that experts predict will be needed each year by 2030 to help communities repair and rebuild when disasters hit. But the moves have broken decades of refusal by rich nations to offer such reparations or to discuss their historical responsibility for climate change for fear of liabilities.
