US exits fund that compensates poorer countries for global heating

Trump pulls out of Cop28 loss and damage deal that recognises harms done by richer, polluting economies to vulnerable nations

The Trump administration has withdrawn the US from a global agreement under which the developed nations most responsible for the climate crisis pledged to partly compensate developing countries for irreversible harms caused by global heating.

The loss and damage fund was agreed at the Cop28 UN climate summit in late 2023 - a hard-won victory after years of diplomatic and grassroots advocacy by developing nations that bear the brunt of the climate crisis despite having contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions. The fund signalled a commitment by developed, polluting countries to provide financial support for some of the irreversible economic and noneconomic losses from sea level rise, desertification, drought and floods already happening.