Optimism replaced by anxiety at UN climate summit

 

The UN climate summit in Egypt got off to a great start when it opened a week ago, but appears to have bogged down on a variety of thorny issues that place rich developed and developing countries in opposite camps. Chief among these themes is "loss and damage": the idea that wealthy nations should fund developing countries' efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. 

At the heart of the problem is the fact that rich nations are responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions, while developing countries, whose responsibility for climate change is negligible, bear the brunt.

 The United States, through its special envoy on climate change, John Kerry, said it does not want a special financial agency or mechanism created to channel funds to developing countries affected by climate change