Reader Letters •Leader Post
Delegates arrive at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 7, 2022.© Provided by Leader Post
The recent COP27 meeting established a loss and damage fund to compensate developing countries for horrendous impacts of climate change. This is being touted as the only major “breakthrough” of the conference.
The original idea was first proposed more than 30 years ago and a commitment of at least $100 billion per year was agreed to at the 21st COP in Paris in 2015. Unfortunately, the current agreement still does not include anything about who will pay or when; this might possibly be done by next year’s COP.
Meanwhile the 10 richest people in the world increased their wealth from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion during the first two years of Covid while the vast majority of people suffered financially, physically and mentally. The United States, which has consistently blocked this agreement, currently has 975 billionaires with a collective wealth of $4.45 trillion. Is there something wrong here? Perhaps these billionaires might consider picking up the tab as it would represent less than 2.5 per cent of their wealth.
Lynn Oliphant, Saskatoon
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