The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) closed Sunday with a breakthrough agreement to provide &loss and damage& funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters.&This outcome moves us forward,& said Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary.

&We have determined a way forward on a decades-long conversation on funding for loss and damage & deliberating over how we address the impacts on communities whose lives and livelihoods have been ruined by the very worst impacts of climate change.&Set against a difficult geopolitical backdrop, COP27 resulted in countries delivering a package of decisions that reaffirmed their commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.The package also strengthened action by countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change, as well as boosting the support of finance, technology and capacity building needed by developing countries.Creating a specific fund for loss and damage marked an important point of progress, with the issue added to the official agenda and adopted for the first time at COP27, the UN said in a statement.Governments took the ground-breaking decision to establish new funding arrangements, as well as a dedicated fund, to assist developing countries in responding to loss and damage.Governments also agreed to establish a ‘transitional committee& to make recommendations on how to operationalize both the new funding arrangements and the fund at COP28 next year.

The first meeting of the transitional committee is expected to take place before the end of March 2023.Parties also agreed on the institutional arrangements to operationalize the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage, to catalyze technical assistance to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.New pledges, totaling more than $230 million, were made to the Adaptation Fund at COP27.

These pledges will help many more vulnerable communities adapt to climate change through concrete adaptation solutions.COP27 President Sameh Shoukry announced the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, enhancing resilience for people living in the most climate-vulnerable communities by 2030.The cover decision, known as the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan, highlights that a global transformation to a low-carbon economy is expected to require investments of at least $4 to $6 trillion a year.COP27 brought together more than 45,000 participants to share ideas, solutions, and build partnerships and coalitions.

Indigenous peoples, local communities, cities and civil society, including youth and children, showcased how they are addressing climate change and shared how it impacts their lives.The post COP27 reaches breakthrough agreement on new ‘loss and damage& fund first appeared on Ariana News.