In a first, COP27 opens with inclusion of 'loss and damage' in agenda

The United Nations' climate change summit opened in Egypt on Sunday with the inclusion of 'loss and damage' finance in the official agenda and India hoping that fair negotiations on it would follow.

Loss and damage is a term used to refer to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to, or when options exist but a community doesn't have the resources to access or utilise them. Financing or a new fund for addressing loss and damage -- for example money needed for relocating people displaced by floods -- has been a long-pending demand of poor and developing countries, including India. But rich countries have avoided discussions on it for over a decade.

"With the inclusion of this agenda item, India will be engaging constructively and actively on the subject during the course of discussions at COP27 and hoping that fair negotiations on loss and damage follow," read a blog post written by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.

"India welcomes adoption of agenda item 'Loss and Damage' at COP27," the minister said.

He said financial mechanisms under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, such as Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund, are under-funded and are not able to mobilise or deliver funds for loss and damage due to climate change.

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