Ativists hold signs during a demonstration encouraging world leaders to maintain policies that limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Photograph: Sedat Suna/EPA
Pacific leaders and climate activists are celebrating the establishment of a loss and damage financing mechanism in the Cop27 agreement, three decades after they raised the need for such a provision.
A loss and damage fund, which would provide financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate disaster, has been a key ask of Pacific nations – which are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis – for decades in climate negotiations. It was first raised more than 30 years ago by Vanuatu, which the UN has ranked as the country most vulnerable to natural disasters.
