US accused of seeking climate funding waiver at UN talks

The United States was accused Wednesday of using crunch UN talks to avoid compensating poorer nations hit by climate change, despite its decision to leave the process to limit global warming. Delegates and observers at the COP25 negotiations in Madrid told AFP that Washington was pushing for a change in the rules of the UN climate convention that could let history's largest emitter largely off the hook when it comes to so-called "loss and damage" funding for developing nations. Under the bedrock UN climate treaty, adopted in 1992, rich nations agreed to shoulder more responsibility for curbing global warming, and to help developing countries prepare for unavoidable future impacts -- the twin pillars of "mitigation" and "adaptation".