COP27: China says ‘willing to contribute’ to climate loss and damage compensation

China’s representative at the UN’s COP27 summit in Egypt, Xie Zhenhua has opened prospects for a new financial mechanism that makes China contributes to climate loss and damage compensation for developing countries.
Zhenhua has on Wednesday stressed his solidarity with those calling for more action from wealthy nations on the issue. He also spoke about the impacts China had suffered from climate-linked weather extremes as the country has seen record droughts during the summer, but has also had extreme flooding earlier in the year.
Asked why Chinese President Xi Jinping would not attend the climate summit, where U.S. President Joe Biden is due to arrive on Friday, Xie cited the Chinese leader’s “very busy domestic schedule” and visits by foreign dignitaries after the recent Communist Party congress.
“When you have guests at home you cannot just leave them and fly abroad to this conference,” he said.