COP 27.. US-EU refusal to establish a fund to compensate countries at risk as a result of climate change

(CNN) — The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom are united against the idea that the United Nations climate summit (COP 27) should end with a firm agreement to create a rich fund. Countries are paying for the losses and damages caused by the climate crisis in the world’s most vulnerable countries.

An EU source directly involved in the negotiations told CNN on Tuesday that the EU does not believe there should be a binding agreement on a new loss and damage fund before the details of how it will work can be agreed.

The source added that the EU hopes that the COP27 agreement will address the need to act on the issue and that there may be an agreement to find some sort of solution by 2024.

The UK government submitted a document to the conference saying it wanted to develop a “process” that would lead to a concrete settlement by 2024.

Senior management officials have committed to negotiating only losses and damages, but have not gone so far as to explain what kind of funding they will ultimately support.

US officials see 2024 as a deadline to do something about the loss and damage. At last year’s COP26 summit, they did not support a proposal by developing countries on a new mechanism for financing losses and damages because they were concerned that it could open up developed countries to legal liability in the coming years.

U.S. officials wondered whether the losses and damages would come from entirely new funding or through existing mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund. And instead of reaching an agreement this year, they want to spend the next two years asking these questions.

A spokesman for US climate ambassador John Kerry did not respond to a request for comment.