President Ruto welcomes historic deal struck at COP27: 'Loss and damage' fund for poor nations approved

A plenary session of the COP27 climate summit approved a historic deal on Sunday, November 20 covering funding arrangements to deal with climate change.

With the deal, it now means that a fund will be created to compensate poor countries that have been the biggest victims of climate change occasioned by carbon pollution by rich nations.

This is a big win for poorer nations which have long called for cash 'reparations' because they are often the victims of climate change - floods, droughts, heat waves, famines and storms - despite having contributed little to the pollution that leads to global warming.

President Ruto welcomes deal

President William Ruto has welcomed, insisting his stance during the just concluded COP27 that the funds will help address the irreversible impacts of climate change for the vulnerable communities of Africa and the world.

In his address at COP27, President Ruto described the loss and damage occasioned by climate change as a "living nightmare of millions of Kenyans and hundreds of millions of Africans."

“The loss and damage must therefore be addressed with a level of seriousness that demonstrates fairness, urgency and consideration," he said.

This milestone is a product of over two decades of agitation by vulnerable nations, calling on developed countries to provide assistance to address loss and damage as a matter of climate justice.