Poor
nations want U.S. to pay reparations for extreme weather AND to
Relocate Them Too - USA today
A socialistic world sigh. Yes, we all know about the ice cores and no climate change due to man.
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Poorer nations suffering from extreme weather
disasters, so much so that their citizens are seeking refuge 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.
The U.N. Paris conference aims to reach an
international, legally biding agreement on climate change that would
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thwart global temperature rise. A
separate agreement is being eyed to address losses and damages from
extreme weather events, thought to be a result of climate change.
As it stands, the Warsaw Mechanism, adopted in
2013 at the U.N. climate conference in Poland, established a structure
to address losses and damages associated with climate change impacts.
However that mechanism is due to expire this year when a new climate
agreement is reached. Poorer nations who say they are on the front lines
of climate change and suffer the worst of its extreme weather
ramifications aren't pleased by the expiration. They want loss and
damage provisions to be extended and expanded upon.
Reports indicate a compromise will be sought
whereby the Warsaw Mechanism is extended, yet carved out from any
legally binding agreement.
Meanwhile, environmental groups are lobbying to
make reparations even more punitive and require polluting companies in
the private sector to step up and also pay for extreme weather-related
damages.
Property and casualty losses have been a point
of contention for years in climate-change discussions. How to handle
refugee claims is a relatively new issue that comes at a time when
Europe is facing a separate refugee crisis of its own, with hordes of
people seeking asylum from war-torn countries in the Middle East and
North Africa. Nine civil wars are raging in countries from Pakistan to
Nigeria.
Adding climate refugees to those numbers may be
too much for government representatives to take on at the moment.
Without question, however, a refugee facility needs to be discussed if
not negotiated, as do further compensation measures for poor countries.
The $100 billion-a-year-commitment by 2020 seems
like a lot of money, but increasingly it isn't looking like enough
funding. With extreme weather events on the rise, so too will be the
costs of cleanup and the tolls on people's lives.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/09/12/kostigen-climate-change-reparations/72014440/ http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=27838
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