COP27 deal puts U.S., wealthy countries on the hook to pay for pollution

HHakim

The world's poorer countries won an agreement Sunday at the United Nations COP27 climate summit in Egypt calling for the U.S. and other wealthy countries to create a fund for climate-related damage.

The fund would initially draw on contributions from developed countries and other private and public sources such as international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as taxes from aviation, shipping and fossil fuels.

Details about the fund - such as which countries will pay and how much, and which will benefit - will be hashed out over the next year.

China - still categorized as a "developing" country even as it ranks as the world's second biggest economy and emits two-thirds more carbon dioxide than the U.S. and Europe combined - currently is not required to contribute.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said he would keep up the pressure on China and other major emitters to "significantly enhance their ambition" and keep alive the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Many observers nevertheless came away disappointed, as the new the new framework released at the end of the summit did not include efforts to phase out or phase down all fossil fuels.

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Attention on methane was considered a major win at COP27, as ~150 countries representing 45% of global methane emissions have now signed on to the voluntary Global Methane Pledge to reduce their emissions 30% by 2030.

The Biden administration recently unveiled plans to tighten regulations against methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas drilling.