The Atlantic

Something Big Just Happened at COP

Wealthy countries might finally pay for the climate change they caused.
Children playing on the rusting remains of a wrecked ship in Tarawa, Kiribati. The ship was lifted and smashed onto a sea wall during a king tide in February 2015.
Source: Vlad Sokhin / Panos Pictures / Redux

Today, on the opening day of COP28, the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, the host country pushed through a decision that wasn’t expected to happen until the last possible minute of the two-week gathering: the creation and structure of the “loss and damage” fund, which will source money from developed countries to help pay for climate damages in developing ones. For the first time, the world has a system in place for climate reparations.

The fund has been a goal of developing nations for years; its aim is to get financial support for the countries that suffer the brunt of climate-change disasters despite having had little part in causing them. Nearly every country on Earth has now adopted the fund, though the text is not technically final until the

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