"Developing countries are losing wealth as they are hit by extreme weather and rising seas, says V20, amid calls for a new fund to direct money to repair the damage fast"
"BARCELONA/KUALA LUMPUR - The surging costs of climate change-driven destruction have made vulnerable nations poorer by about one-fifth, 55 such countries said on Wednesday, as fears grow that U.N. discussions on money for states to repair and avoid harm could become a "talk shop".
"Loss and damage" caused by more extreme weather and rising seas is a key issue at mid-year U.N. climate talks in the German city of Bonn, as negotiators launched a three-year dialogue this week on a topic that has long divided rich and poorer economies.
The "Glasgow Dialogue" emerged after a push for a new loss-and-damage fund for vulnerable countries floundered at the U.N. COP26 summit in Scotland last year due to resistance from donors including the United States and some European governments.
But small island states and other countries that are already bearing the brunt of a warming world - from more powerful storms in Madagascar to disappearing islets in the Marshall Islands - urged wealthy governments not to hold back progress in Bonn.
"We ask in particular that we do not just have another talk shop on finance for addressing climate impacts," said Ralph Regenvanu, a parliamentarian from Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation grappling with frequent cyclones and rising seas."
Megan Rowling and Beh Lih Yi report for Thomson Reuters Foundation June 8, 2022.
SEE ALSO:
"In Focus: Loss And Damage" (Thomson Reuters Fdn.)
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