Climate change damages should be compensated -Report

Kenyans want compensation for climate change losses and damages, a report shows.

The report was developed following a survey done by the Open Society Organization (OSO). The survey was done on some 36,344 respondents across 30 countries in the period between May, and August.

According to the report, most people across the globe opine that high-income countries should compensate low-income countries for losses and damages incurred from climate change.

In the survey, 79 per cent of Kenyan respondents agreed that developed countries should take the lead in compensating underdeveloped countries for economic losses caused by climate change.

A large number of respondents from low-income countries supported the call for compensation for climate change as respondents from Bangladesh (91pc), Egypt(90pc) and Ethiopia(89pc) contributed.

"Seventy-one percent of respondents agreed with the statement. There was more enthusiasm in lower-income countries, but majorities in the United Arab Emirates (75 pc), Italy (69 pc), the United States (54 pc), and the United Kingdom (52 pc) were also supportive," the report read in part.

The 2009 Conference of Parties (COP16) had set a non-binding goal to mobilize USD 100 billion per year in climate finance from developed countries to developing nations by 2025.

However, this target envisioned as a lifeline for nations grappling with the escalating consequences of climate change has not been met.

The report shows that one in every five respondents in all regions identified climate change as a major personal concern facing the world followed by poverty and inequality.

Half of the respondents interviewed fear climate change because of its consequences citing extreme weather events and inflation.

Consequently, 83 percent of Kenyans fear that climate change impacts might affect their physical health, access to food and water, and increase in cost of living in coming years.

According to the United Nations, Fossil fuels are the largest contributors to global climate change accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Therefore,88 percent of Kenyans are of the opinion that high-income countries should take the lead on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

The opinion was supported by other low-income countries including; Bangladesh(91pc), Senegal(88pc), and Nigeria(85pc).

"Significant majorities in high-income countries also agreed; 73 per cent in Saudi Arabia, 72 percent in the United Kingdom, 70 percent in Japan, and 65 percent in the United States. The lowest levels of agreement were seen in Germany, at 59 percent," the report added.

During the just concluded Africa Climate Summit 2023 in Nairobi, the U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said that most African countries are impacted by climate change while the high-income countries produce 80 per cent of the world's carbon emissions fueling the climate change.