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Climate summit achieved new unity. Now there are pledges to fulfill.

For Salote Nasalo, from the island nation of Fiji, newly promised climate aid for developing nations can’t come quickly enough.

She came here to this year’s United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and was among those who pushed successfully for a “loss and damage” relief fund for nations hit hardest by climate change.

Why We Wrote This

The COP27 story is a familiar one: Summit on climate change achieves far less than hoped for. Yet a breakthrough between rich and poor nations this year shows how cooperation and diplomacy can bear fruit.

“We now need to find ways to make sure funds get to these communities so they can rebuild and better prepare for the next crisis,” Ms. Nasalo says.

Many experts say agreement goes a long way toward rebuilding the trust of developing countries and young people in a climate process they viewed as favoring rich nations.

“This certainly demonstrates that a just and fair cause backed by science and with enough interest groups supporting it eventually will gain traction and progress will be made,” says Emily Wilkinson of the London-based think tank ODI.  

But critics see a big unfinished agenda – notably cutting global greenhouse gas emissions.

“COP has been going on as long as I have been alive. We don’t need a COP 28 and 29 to cut fossil fuels emissions, we need action on mitigation now,” Ms. Nasalo says. “We have less than 27 years before our communities and villages in the South Pacific disappear under the sea.”

For Salote Nasalo, from the island nation of Fiji, newly promised climate aid for developing nations can’t come quickly enough.

As a specialist on so-called loss and damage from climate change, she came here to this year’s United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and was among those who tirelessly pushed for the cause of a relief fund. 

Those efforts paid off, as the world’s governments agreed to establish a fund for countries hardest hit by climate disasters – hailed as a win for diplomacy after marathon negotiations went 40 hours overtime and nearly collapsed. 

Why We Wrote This

The COP27 story is a familiar one: Summit on climate change achieves far less than hoped for. Yet a breakthrough between rich and poor nations this year shows how cooperation and diplomacy can bear fruit.

But in Ms. Nasalo’s home country, 50 hours and multiple plane rides away, family and friends were preparing for cyclones and historic flooding. 

“Often the poorest communities are the ones that need the help the most, and they have not been given the tools or the funds to either rebuild or prepare for the next extreme event,” Ms. Nasalo says. “We now need to find ways to make sure funds get to these communities so they can rebuild and better prepare for the next crisis.” 

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