The world's greatest unpaid debt?

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on BBC or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Amid increasing climate disasters, calls are intensifying for polluters—particularly rich nations and fossil fuel companies—to pay for the losses and damages they’ve caused
• Vulnerable nations, facing up to $580 billion in annual climate damages by 2030, argue for a "polluters pay" model, while Vermont has become the first U.S. state to legally mandate such payments
• Proposals include taxing fossil fuel extraction, corporate windfall profits, and high-carbon behaviors like frequent flying

🔭 The context: Rich countries and fossil fuel companies have historically been the largest contributors to global emissions, yet vulnerable nations bear the brunt of climate impacts
• Advances in climate attribution science have bolstered legal and financial claims, such as the ongoing Peruvian lawsuit holding Germany’s RWE accountable for glacier melt
• Resistance from developed nations persists, with disputes dominating climate talks like COP29

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Funding from polluters could finance climate adaptation, resilient infrastructure, and recovery efforts in vulnerable countries, helping to redress global inequities
• However, certain losses—cultural heritage, lives, and territory—are irreplaceable, emphasizing the moral imperative of action

⏭️ What's next: Proposals for an international loss and damage finance facility remain contentious, with debates continuing at climate summits
• Legal precedents and national policies like Vermont’s may pave the way for broader adoption of polluter-pays models

💬 One quote: “No amount of money can compensate for some climate loss and damage: lost human lives, cultural heritage, animal and plant species, and ancestral lands” – Kathy Mulvey, Union of Concerned Scientists

📈 One stat: The world's largest fossil fuel companies have generated $52 trillion in profits over 50 years, while climate damages could cost $1-1.8 trillion annually by 2050

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