Why ‘Loss and Damage’ Is a Climate Talks Battleground

Pollution from developed countries set climate change in motion. But it’s the countries left behind by industrialization that are feeling the heat. Now, those poorer nations are demanding what’s known in the climate debate as “loss and damage” -- financial and technological help to cope with problems they didn’t cause. It’s an issue that could dominate the global climate talks set for November in Egypt.

Shorthand for a program of climate compensation. The phrase refers to the “loss” of lives, cultures or species that can never return, and the “damage” to vital infrastructure that needs to be repaired after climate-driven disasters. Low-lying developing countries are already bearing the cost and want the largest polluters to make them whole. The aim is a global agreement that would amount to an insurance program paid for by developed nations to poorer nations most affected but least responsible. A recent string of extraordinary disasters, such as this summer’s flooding in Pakistan, which left a third of the country flooded for weeks, have brought urgency to the debate.