SHARM EL-SHEIKH — Negotiators say they have struck a potential breakthrough deal on the thorniest issue of United Nations climate talks — the creation of a fund for compensating poor nations that are victims of extreme weather.

According to the Maldives’ Environment Minister Aminath Shauna, “there is an agreement on loss and damage,” which is what negotiators call the concept.

It still needs to be approved unanimously in a vote later Saturday. “That means for countries like ours we will have the mosaic of solutions that we have been advocating for,” Shauna added.

New Zealand’s Climate Minister, James Shaw, has said both the poor countries that would get the money and the rich ones that would give it are on board with the proposed deal.

If approved, it's a big win for poorer nations that have been calling for compensation, sometimes even called reparations, for decades because they are often the victims of climate disasters despite having contributed little to the pollution around the globe. — Euronews