World
Poor Nations Want U.S. to Pay Reparations for Extreme Weather
A boy kicks a ball through the ruins of his family home as his father, Phillip, at back, picks through debris in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on Monday. (Dave Hunt/AP Photo)
Thomas M. Kostigen, USA TODAY
(USA Today) — Poorer nations suffering from extreme weather disasters, so much so that their citizens are seeking refugee in safer terrains outside their borders, want rich nations like the United States to pay for reparations and to relocate populations.
Preparatory talks ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change to be held in Paris in December has representatives from developing nations asking for more than an already agreed upon $100 billion per year for climate change mitigation measures. They want additional compensation for weather-related disasters as well as a “displacement coordination facility” for refugees. And they want all this to be legally binding as part of the larger anticipated Paris accord.
The U.S. and wealthier nations in the European Union are balking.
The rationale for the additional funds and refugee facility is based on donor country failures to follow through cohesively on aid pledges following weather-related disasters. For example, last March, Cyclone Pam devastated islands in the South Pacific but attention quickly turned to the massive earthquake in Nepal soon thereafter. That left small nations such as Vanuatu, which was devastated, to manage its own cleanup without much in the way of international assistance.
Poorer nations blame extreme weather-related disasters on climate change stemming from emission-polluting countries that have more developed and wealthier economies.
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