WSJ-Gov'ts Reach Agreement On Climate Damage Fund

WSJ reports that gov'ts at the COP28 summit in the UAE have reached an agreement on a UN climate-damage fund for developing nations that will "pay for loss and damage, which occurs when rising seas, drought or effects of climate change are so destructive that communities can no longer adapt".

• According to WSJ, "the fund will be managed by the World Bank in Washington during the first four years of its existence but have its own secretariat. The fund’s board could choose to make the World Bank the permanent host if the board determines that the fund has sufficient independence from the bank. If not, the board would select a country to host the fund."
• It remains to be seen what size the fund could reach, and what fiscal impact it could have on donor gov'ts as well as recipients. Donations are voluntary, with developed nations 'urged' to contribute and others 'encouraged' to do so. The US had sought to include the latter wording in order to see countries defined as developing but themselves major polluters, such as China or Middle Eastern states, included in funding.
• The lack of mandatory payments comes amid Republicans in the US Congress objecting to sending funds abroad to pay for climate change-related spending.