The agreement set a constructive tone for the COP27 summit in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where governments hope to keep alive a goal to avert the worst impacts of planetary warming even as a slew of crises from a land war in Europe to rampant inflation distract the international focus.

For more than a decade, wealthy nations have rejected official discussions on what is referred to as "loss and damage," the term used to describe rich nations paying out funds to help poor countries cope with the consequences of global warming, for which they bear little blame.

At COP26 last year in Glasgow, high-income nations, including the United States and the European Union, blocked a proposal for a loss and damage financing body, instead supporting a three-year dialogue for funding discussions.

But pressure to address the issue has been increasing as weather calamities mount, including this year’s floods in Pakistan that caused economic losses of more than $30 billion and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

SABC