Fossil fuel companies owe reparations to countries they are destroying | Mark Hertsgaard

Who pays for loss and damage' is in vogue at Cop26, but the authors of the climate emergency are still escaping accountability

Mohammed Nasheed made global headlines in 2009 by convening the world's first underwater cabinet meeting. As president of the Maldives, a nation of 1,138 low-lying islands south-west of India, Nasheed donned scuba gear and descended beneath the waves with 13 government ministers. The officials used waterproof pencils to sign a document urging the world to slash carbon dioxide emissions so the Maldives would not disappear beneath rising seas.

If the Maldives cannot be saved today, we do not feel that there is much of a chance for the rest of the world," Nasheed told reporters.

This story is published as part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of news outlets strengthening coverage of the climate story. Mark Hertsgaard is Covering Climate Now's executive director