Developing nations are propositioning a radical plan to seek climate change compensation from wealthier developed nations to help them cope with droughts and rising sea levels.
Many developed nations are currently in economic crisis and facing budget deficits, and thus, are opposed to such a plan. The United States delegates have stated that any money to help developing nations face climate change would have to come from the $100 billion in aid already promised to help poor countries cope with global warming, delegates said.
“In the end, you can’t squeeze blood from a stone,” said Helen Clark, head of the U.N. Development Programme, to Reuters at the November 26-December 8 conference in Doha, Qatar. She warned that developing nations are expecting too much from the “pretty stressed Western economies”.
The toll climate related damage has done are significant: Most recently, last week’s typhoon in the Philippines claimed 540 lives and in 2004, Hurricane Ivan created damages worth twice the island’s annual economic revenue.
“Of course it won’t ever be big enough to satisfy everyone who comes along and cries,” George Prime, Grenada’s Environment Minister, said to Reuters. “It’s not just the cost. An event like that raises your debts and you can’t get loans. It also takes money away from other spending, like on health and education.”
