Arguably the top priority of Latin American and Caribbean nations at November’s COP27 climate talks was to ensure developed nations deliver on longstanding—and long-unfulfilled—pledges of financial support to help them address the effects of climate change. This time they followed the example of regions such as Africa by pushing the point jointly in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt—a notable departure from their usual practice of aligning themselves in climate talks with different negotiating blocs. By the end of the conference, they were describing that strategy as a success, saying it had helped secure the headline achievement of the conference—a pledge by developed countries to create a “loss and damage” fund. The fund would help developing nations cope with extreme weather and slow-onset phenomena related to climate change. Questions about the fund remain, though, including when it will be created, how it will be underwritten, who... [Log in to read more]