DUBAI: A 鈥渓oss and damage鈥� fund for developing countries hit by climate change dominated preliminary talks in the UAE on Tuesday before COP28 in Dubai in a month鈥檚 time.

About 70 ministers met in Abu Dhabi to hammer out details before the UN climate summit, the most important since the landmark Paris agreement in 2015.
鈥淭he main focus for the moment is clearly the loss and damage fund,鈥� French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said. Egypt鈥檚 delegate to the talks, Mohamed Nasr, said 鈥渁lmost 80 percent of the text鈥� had been agreed, and an African negotiator said the 鈥渞eal battles鈥� would be fought at COP28.

The agreement to set up a dedicated fund to help vulnerable states cope with climate loss and damage was a flagship achievement of last year鈥檚 COP27 in Egypt, but countries left the details to be worked out later.
Developing nations are demanding that negotiators at the Dubai summit nail down the fund鈥檚 operation, governance, location, contributors and beneficiaries, and a timeline for payouts. But many are skeptical of the willingness of wealthy countries to establish the fund.

The last round of negotiations in mid-October ended in failure, with a next round scheduled from Nov. 3-5 in Abu Dhabi. 鈥淲e were one or two days away from an agreement,鈥� one European negotiator said, but disagreements on issues including beneficiaries had delayed a breakthrough.
鈥淭he US does not want to put in a penny if China is a potential beneficiary,鈥� the negotiator said.