- Fearing Trump, LGBTQ Americans out in force for vote
- Apple to let iPhone users in Europe delete its App Store
- Tebogo tops 200m, Wanyonyi on fire in mixed night for Olympic champs
- Israel in Gaza talks in Egypt as fighting rages
- Combining climate measures key to slashing emissions: study
- Harris to formally accept Democratic nomination
- England's Hull out in front after first round of Women's British Open
- Ingebrigtsen claims revenge on Hocker in Lausanne 1500m
- World's second largest diamond found in Botswana
- US Open draw raises prospect of Sinner-Alcaraz rematch
- Smith edges England ahead in first Test against Sri Lanka
- Venezuela high court confirms Maduro's reelection after fraud claims
- 'Crazy love': Afghans overjoyed to watch star cricketers on home turf
- Putin accuses Ukraine of trying to attack Kursk nuclear plant
- Nestle CEO Schneider to step down after eight years at helm
- Pakistan top court amends religious freedom ruling after protests
- Stocks sputter ahead of Fed chief's speech
- Nepal lifts ban on video-sharing platform TikTok
- Bangladesh revokes diplomatic passport of ex-PM Hasina
- O'Connor romps to Vuelta win, takes significant lead
- Indonesia scraps plan to change election rules after protests
- Brook steadies England after Asitha Fernando strikes for Sri Lanka
- Hamilton backs Grand Prix in Africa amid Rwanda talks
- Truce hopes fade as Gaza rocked by Israeli bombardment, battles
- Mpox vaccine maker says 'better prepared' than in 2022
- Dyche fears Everton could have just 14 first-team players for Spurs trip
- Canada rail freight shut down threatens to disrupt economy
- Harris to take star turn at Democratic convention
- US existing home sales rise in July, ending downward trend
- Unbeaten Verstappen eyes 'very close' Dutch Grand Prix
- Protests as rebuilt tower opens at German church with Nazi links
- A divide opens in Ukraine over giving up land for peace
- Hammers boss Lopetegui will be glad to see transfer window shut
- Leverkusen coach Alonso says Bayern 'favourites' in Bundesliga
- Cannon-Brookes: Australia's billionaire climate warrior
- War cook: Ukrainian soldier-influencer's winning recipe
- Cosplay and queues at Germany gamers gathering
- Verstappen eyes 'very close' Dutch Grand Prix
- Play resumes on second day of England-Sri Lanka first Test
- Taiwan sentences eight soldiers for spying for China
- PSG coach Luis Enrique plays down prospect of more new signings
- Key Indian hospital ends strike but doctor rape protests rage
- Key Indian hospital ends stike but doctor rape protests rage
- Djokovic targets Slam record at US Open, Sinner under cloud
- Ceasefire hopes fade as Gaza fighting rages
- Indonesians protesting election law changes clash with police
- Hurzeler backs record-signing Rutter to be a 'big, big' player at Brighton
- Stock markets buoyed by US rate cut hopes
- England to host Zimbabwe in 2025, Lord's to stage first women's Test in 2026
- India's Modi urges peace ahead of Ukraine visit
'We can't wait another year': disaster-hit nations call for climate aid
Countries on the frontlines of climate change have warned they cannot wait another year for long-sought aid to recover from disasters as floods and hurricanes wreak havoc across the globe.
The appeal came during a meeting of the "loss and damage" fund that will conclude Friday amid concerns it is unlikely to be able to approve climate aid until 2025.
"We cannot wait until the end of 2025 for the first funds to get out the door," Adao Soares Barbosa, a board member from East Timor and a long-standing negotiator for the world's poorest nations, told AFP.
"Loss and damage isn't waiting for us."
Nearly 200 nations agreed at the UN COP28 summit last November to launch a fund responsible for distributing aid to developing countries to rebuild in the wake of climate disasters.
That historic moment has given way to complex negotiations to finalise the fund's design, which some countries worry will not move at a pace or scale that matches the tempo of extreme-weather disasters afflicting their people.
"The urgency of needs of vulnerable countries and communities cannot be left until we have every hair in place for this fund," said Barbosa.
Damage bills for climate disasters can run into the billions and there is barely enough cash set aside for loss and damage at present to cover just one such event, experts say.
- 'Immense pressure' -
This year has witnessed a string of catastrophes on multiple continents, from floods and landslides to heatwaves and wildfires.
Delegates met in South Korea for the second meeting of the loss and damage fund this week as Hurricane Beryl left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and North America.
The "massive" destruction witnessed in recent weeks "puts immense pressure on us to deliver on our work", Richard Sherman, the South African co-chair of the board steering the negotiations, told the meeting.
The fund said it wanted money approved "as soon as possible, but realistically by mid-2025", according to an official document seen by AFP.
In an appeal for faster action, Elizabeth Thompson, a board member from Barbados, said Hurricane Beryl alone had caused "apocalyptic" damage worth "multiple billion dollars".
"In five islands of the Grenadines... 90 percent of the housing is gone... Houses look like packs of cards and strips of wood, roofs are gone, trees are gone, there is no food, there is no water, there is no power," she said.
"We cannot keep talking while people live and die in a crisis that they do not cause."
Thompson said the fund needed to reflect "the urgency and the scale required to respond to... the risk, the damage and the devastation faced by people across the world who need this fund".
- No money, no fund -
Wealthy nations have so far pledged around $661 million to the loss and damage fund. South Korea contributed an additional $7 million at the start of this week's meeting.
"That would hardly cover the likely losses from one major climate-related disaster," Camilla More, of the International Institute for Environment and Development, told AFP.
Some estimates suggest developing countries need over $400 billion annually to rebuild after climate-related disasters. One study put the global bill at between $290 billion and $580 billion a year by 2030, and rising after that.
In one example in 2022, unprecedented flooding in Pakistan caused more than $30 billion in damages and economic losses, according to a UN-backed assessment.
Developing nations had been pushing for a specific fund to distribute aid to recover from climate impacts for 30 years, and the agreement struck in November was hailed a major diplomatic breakthrough.
"(But) ee can't have a fund without money," said Brandon Wu from ActionAid.
Technical discussions are taking place this year over the details of the loss and damage fund, including with the World Bank which will house the fund on an interim basis.
The Philippines was chosen this week to host the fund's board.
Contentious discussions remain to decide how the money is allocated and in what form it should be made available to countries.
On Tuesday, more than 350 nongovernmental organisations sent a letter to the fund's board demanding that a substantial share of the money be made directly available as small grants to local communities and indigenous groups.
X.Karnes--AMWN