Rich nations at UN climate talks are said to be edging towards a compromise on the thorny issue of loss and damage. Poorer countries want compensation for extreme weather events that they link to large scale carbon emissions. But the US and EU have long resisted this idea, fearing an endless liability running into billions of dollars. However a clarified proposal from the US … was said to concede that the Warsaw Mechanism should be extended and made permanent. They would also “respond to the concerns of developing countries”. –Matt McGrath, BBC News, 4 September 2015

The developing nations are not stupid. They have ensnared the West in a climate trap that green politicians set for themselves. To meet the growing pressure by the West, developing countries are demanding $200- 400 billion dollars – per annum – for so-called climate compensation and adaptation measures, together with billions worth of technology transfers. It is difficult to see how the West, already heavily curtailed as a result of the economic crisis, would be prepared to transfer such an astronomical amount of money. Even in good times it would have been a foolish idea. Most likely, all efforts of reaching a binding climate agreement will fail in coming years. The pressure of lowering expectations of a green utopia will therefore increase. –Benny Peiser, Copenhagen and the Demise of Green Utopia, Die Weltwoche 23 December 2009

1) The Price For Paris Deal: Obama Ready To Consider Extreme Weather Compensation For Developing Nations? – BBC News, 4 September 2015

2) US & EU Considering Loss And Damage Options For Paris Deal –Responding to Climate Change, 3 September 2015

3) Indian PM Modi Urges ‘Climate Justice’ Ahead Of Paris Meet – Press Trust of India, 3 September 2015

4) Pay Up Now! – The Fiji Times, 4 September 2015

5) There Is No ‘Magic Wand’ To Solve Climate Change Warns UN Climate Chief, As Bonn Talks Stall – Business Green, 3 September 2015

6) EU Divided Over Non-Binding Renewables Target – Politico, 3 September 2015

A coalition of the world’s richest countries appears to have accepted that there is a need to address loss and damage from extreme weather events in a UN climate deal, set to be agreed in