Torsten Blackwood\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n
Kirabati, a member of the Alliance of Small Island States, or AOSIS, is requesting help from the United Nations, as climate change puts their countries at risk. <\/p>\n
Islands that are most vulnerable to rising oceans are seeking an insurance program to protect against damage related to climate change, adding to pressure on industrial nations to increase aid committed to fight global warming to more than $100 billion a year. <\/p>\n
The islands are proposing a loss and damage mechanism that would insure and compensate countries that suffer from extreme weather, erosion and drought. The request is raising tension levels among more than 190 industrial and developing nations at United Nations climate talks in Doha this week. <\/p>\n
All we are asking is that they help us with these issues that arent our doing, Malia Talakai of Nauru, lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, or AOSIS, a bloc of 43 island nations, said in an interview in Doha. We are trying to say that if you pollute you must help us. <\/p>\n
Related: <\/p>\n
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joins the meeting today with six national leaders including Gabons President Ali-Ben Bongo Ondimba and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. The conference is aiming to streamline its negotiation process this year, paving the way for adopting by 2015 a treaty limiting fossil-fuel emissions that would come into force in 2020. <\/p>\n
Industrial nations three years ago pledged to boost aid to $100 billion a year by 2020. Those funds would cover projects including renewable energy and sea walls that would help countries adapt to and fight climate change. <\/p>\n
The U.S., the European Union and other developed countries are wary of the proposal because it may have the potential to create open-ended financial and legal liabilities, said Saleemul Huq, a Bangladeshi scientist based in London at the International Institute for Environment and Development. <\/p>\n
Developed countries hear that phrase, loss and damage, and they think of an international fund for compensation and liability -- taboo subjects for them, Huq said in an interview in Doha. Theres strong push back. The U.S. has said there is no way they are going to do it. <\/p>\n
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Islands Seek Funds for Climate Damage at UN Talks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Torsten Blackwood\/AFP via Getty Images Kirabati, a member of the Alliance of Small Island States, or AOSIS, is requesting help from the United Nations, as climate change puts their countries at risk. Islands that are most vulnerable to rising oceans are seeking an insurance program to protect against damage related to climate change, adding to pressure on industrial nations to increase aid committed to fight global warming to more than $100 billion a year. Continue reading