US refuses to pay climate reparations to developing nations

WASHINGTON: The United States refused to pay reparations to developing countries hit by climate-related disasters, US special envoy on climate change John Kerry told a congressional hearing, according to several reports.

Kerry, a former US secretary of state, was asked by US Representative Brian Mast whether the US would contribute to a fund that would pay countries that have been damaged by floods, storms and other climate-driven disasters.

“No, under no circumstances,’ Kerry said in response to the Republican chair of the subcommittee.

Kerry was at the House of Representatives hearing on the State Department’s climate agenda just days before he was scheduled to travel to Beijing for renewed bilateral talks on climate change with China.

Developing nations that are disproportionately affected by climate-related impacts have called for compensation from developed countries, which are historically responsible for climate change through disproportionately higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

Last November at the COP27 conference in Egypt, the US backed the creation of a funding body to address the “loss and damage” incurred by vulnerable nations as result of major or recurring disasters.

However, the deal did not clarify who would pay into the fund or how money would be disbursed.

The US and other developed countries had pushed for the inclusion of a footnote that excluded the idea of liability for historic emitters or compensation for countries harmed by disasters.