Activists at Cop27 in Egypt call for nations to pay up for loss and damage caused by climate change. AP
Activists at Cop27 in Egypt call for nations to pay up for loss and damage caused by climate change. AP
Activists at Cop27 in Egypt call for nations to pay up for loss and damage caused by climate change. AP
Activists at Cop27 in Egypt call for nations to pay up for loss and damage caused by climate change. AP

Cop28: US pledge of $17.5m to climate fund is 'paltry and shameful', activist says


Ellie Sennett
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The US contribution towards the loss and damage fund agreed to on the opening day of Cop28 has been criticised for being much smaller than what it needs to be.

A US climate group called Washington's $17.5 million commitment to the fund “insulting”, highlighting that island nations have requested “at least $100 billion” per year over the first four years.

The contribution from the US pales into comparison to other nations: the UAE immediately offered $100 million to the fund, while the UK put in £60 million ($75 million).

“The amount pledged by the United States is insulting,” Bineshi Albert, co-executive director of the US-based Climate Justice Alliance, said in a statement on Friday.

“It is a paltry, shameful amount of money that shows the US is completely uninterested in prioritising or being accountable to the climate impacts frontline communities are facing.”

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President, earlier this year blamed wealthier nations’ failure to fulfil a long-standing, $100 billion-a-year commitment in climate finance assistance to developing countries, arguing that delays were “holding up” progress.

Between 3.3 billion to 3.6 billion people live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change. A 2022 report from Oxfam found that over the past 20 years, global funding needed for extreme weather events has increased by 800 per cent.

At the 2022 Cop27 conference in Sharm El Sheikh, the US was among the countries that agreed to establish a “loss and damage” fund to support low-income countries that carry a disproportionate climate change burden compared to their emissions output.

The US is the world's second worst carbon emitter after China and is historically the nation most responsible for carbon emissions.

One study on carbon inequalities from the University of Leeds found the US holds the “single largest climate debt” to affected countries, at $2.6 trillion per year, on average, 15 per cent of its 2018 gross domestic product.

Even at China’s 2021 rate of 11.47 gigatonnes of carbon emissions per year, “it would take roughly 15 years to match the US historical contribution”, according to research from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

And at India’s 2021 rate of 2.71 gigatonnes per year, “it would take about 135 years to catch up to the United States”.

Reparations were ruled out

US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry emphatically rejected the idea of paying reparations to climate change-affected nations, but endorsed the loss and damage fund as a humanitarian donation.

“I think our country is enriched, and our civilisation is better for the fact that we do try to help people out in other places when they're in trouble,” Mr Kerry told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July.

Mr Kerry, speaking from Dubai this week as Cop28 kicked off, told reporters that the current agreement “the way it’s designed – will meet the needs of vulnerable countries”, signalling that Washington was working with its partners “to develop a framework that’s going to accelerate some of the activities that need to be engaged”.

US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry on the opening day of Cop28. Reuters
US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry on the opening day of Cop28. Reuters

That includes a focus on meeting “recovery needs, damages from storms, hurricanes, in some cases moving people out of harm’s way, early warning of storms”.

But he again emphasised on Monday that paying into the loss and damage fund “does not express any expression of liability and compensation”.

Ms Albert also criticised Washington's efforts to ensure contributions to the fund would be voluntary.

“This is another clear sign that the US does not take responsibility for its harmful past actions nor does it consider the needs of the most impacted and marginalised communities seriously,” she said.

And the $17.5 million pledge pales in comparison to Washington's fossil fuel industry subsidies, with some estimates showing American taxpayers pay about $20 billion every year to the fossil fuel industry.

That has drawn ire from Democrats in Congress, with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, earlier this year calling the fossil fuel “cash subsidy is both big and wrong”.

But “it’s not just the US”, Mr Whitehouse emphasised.

According to the International Energy Agency, fossil fuel handouts hit a global high of $1 trillion in 2022 – “the same year Big Oil pulled in a record $4 trillion of income”, Mr Whitehouse said.

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Europe’s rearming plan
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

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The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)

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Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)

Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)

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Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)

Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)

Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)

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Updated: December 01, 2023, 5:57 PM