COP27: New 'Loss and Damage' proposal mooted by coalition of developed nations

A coalition of developed nations including the United States and the United Kingdom has issued a draft proposal on loss and damage funding, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The proposal would set up "new and enhanced funding arrangements for assisting developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in responding to loss and damage," according to a draft seen by Reuters.

It would also create "an expert group" to tackle key questions about where the funding should come from and how the funding mechanism should be run.

A second source confirmed that the draft was the current proposal under consideration at the talks.

It was not immediately clear how the proposal differed from an earlier EU proposal. That proposal would have set up a special fund for covering loss and damage in the most vulnerable countries, funded from a "broad donor base", according to EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans.

That wording suggested high-emitting emerging economies like China would have to contribute, rather than having the fund financed only by rich nations that have historically contributed the most to global warming. 

'Losses and Damages' refers to compensation towards helping developing countries recover from the impacts of climate change they are already suffering. 

Developing nations want guaranteed compensation from developed countries - who they say are historically responsible for climate change.