Small Countries Welcome Inclusion of Loss & Damage on Cop 27 Agenda

Caribbean countries and small-island developing states have welcomed the inclusion of loss and damage on the U.N. Climate Change COP Twenty-seven, taking place in Egypt this year. One hundred and twenty world leaders and relevant parties are meeting at the forum to strategize the best way forward in the global response to climate change. Small Caribbean countries and islands bear the brunt of the impact of hurricanes caused mostly by climate change, as a result of greenhouse gas emissions produced by larger countries. These smaller countries are adamant that the countries responsible for climate change compensate them for loss and damage that occur as a result of climate change impacts. Ambassador Conrod Hunte of Antigua and Barbuda, who spoke at the opening of the assembly, said smaller countries look forward to working with the international community to provide the much-needed support to the vulnerable women, men, and children of the world. He continued that there are “clear gaps in existing funding arrangements to adequately assist developing countries in meeting the cost of their ex-post responses that aim to address non-economic and economic loss and damage” from the changing climate. Assistant Executive Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, Doctor Mark Bynoe, said that even if any reference to compensation or liability is not made, including the topic on the agenda was a step in the right direction. Loss and damage had been an issue that the Alliance of Small Island States has been pushing for over the past thirty years. Following the opening day, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, captured here by Panos Caribbean, spoke with reporters about the importance of loss and damage finance for the Caribbean. An estimated forty-five thousand persons representing a hundred and ninety-six countries are attending COP27.