US "100% ready" to discuss loss an damage, says Kerry

US climate envoy, John Kerry, said his country was “totally supportive” of moves to address loss and damage, one of the most contentious issues at these talks, and “100% ready” to discuss the issue in detail.

“We have engaged with our friends to work through the proposals,” he told a press conference at Cop27 on Saturday.

He said that Joe Biden, who visited the talks briefly on Friday, was also supportive. “We are 100% ready, [the president] has said, to discuss the issue of loss and damage. That’s why it’s on the agenda. We want to come to closure.”

Asked when the US would start paying into a finance facility for loss and damage, and whether China should also pay into such a facility, Kerry said: “It’s not fully defined, what a facility is. There are all kinds of different views on what it could be. No one can sign up to something on it, not yet … We are not at the [financial] facility discussions yet.”

On the issue of whether China, Kerry did not name China but referred to such countries indirectly. “There are a whole bunch of countries that have also contributed to where we are, so how do we manage that?”