Sultan
Al
Jaber,
chief
executive
of
the
UAE’s
Abu
Dhabi
National
Oil
Company
(ADNOC)
and
president
of
this
year’s
COP28
climate
summit
gestures
during
an
interview
as
part
of
the
7th
Ministerial
on
Climate
Action
(MoCA)
in
Brussels
on
July
13,
2023.
Francois
Walschaerts
|
Afp
|
Getty
Images
United
Nations
representatives
failed
to
secure
a
deal
during
late-night
talks
on
how
to
implement
a
reparations
fund
for
climate
disaster
recovery
in
developing
nations.
The
“loss
and
damage
fund”
would
call
on
rich
countries
to
finance
the
recovery
of
climate
disasters
that
have
wrecked
developing
nations
and
set
them
behind
on
their
sustainability
goals.
The
commitment
to
establish
the
fund
was
one
of
the
highlight
announcements
of
last
year’s
UN
Climate
Conference,
or
COP27,
after
a
series
of
down-to-the-wire
negotiations.
Part
of
the
agreement
at
COP27
was
the
creation
of
a
Loss
and
Damage
Transitional
Committee,
which
would
be
in
charge
of
negotiating
the
details
on
how
to
set
up
and
operate
the
fund.
The
group
was
made
up
of
representatives
from
developing
nations
like
Pakistan,
Egypt
and
Venezuela,
as
well
as
rich
countries
like
the
United
States
and
the
United
Kingdom.
The
24-member
committee
met
four
times
over
the
past
week
to
settle
on
official
recommendations
for
how
to
implement
the
fund.
Those
recommendations
have
been
in
dispute
over
the
past
year
and
are
due
to
be
completed
in
time
to
be
adopted
at
this
year’s
COP28,
which
is
set
to
take
place
at
the
end
of
November
in
Abu
Dhabi.
At
the
beginning
of
the
fourth
meeting,
Sultan
Al-Jaber,
the
director
of
COP28
and
a
United
Arab
Emirates
minister,
pressed
the
representatives
to
pick
up
the
pace
of
their
negotiations:
“I
don’t
want
this
to
be
an
empty
bank
account.
This
committee
has
to
deliver
its
recommendations.”
However,
the
talks
slowed
with
representatives
unable
to
reconcile
their
differences
on
how
to
operate
the
fund
and
who
would
pay
for
it.
The
fourth
meeting
bled
into
the
late
hours
of
Friday
night
and
early
Saturday
morning,
as
committee
members
grew
increasingly
frustrated
by
the
lagging
progress.
“I
spent
all
day
with
a
cold
working
on
this,
feeling
like
crap
and
I
want
to
see
it
affected
somewhere,”
Diann
Black-Layne,
an
environmental
director
for
Antigua
and
Barbuda,
said
at
the
meeting.
The
meeting
ended
with
no
solid
resolution
and
a
plan
to
set
up
a
fifth
meeting
on
the
issue,
as
the
COP28
deadline
inches
nearer.
“What
message
do
I
take
back
home?”
said
Ali
Waqas
Malik,
representing
Pakistan.
“You
came
empty-handed.
There
is
nothing
on
the
table.
No
recommendations.”
