Wealthier countries agree to pay compensation to vulnerable nations for climate change damages

Countries at the COP27 climate summit reached an agreement on Sunday for wealthy nations to compensate more vulnerable countries for "loss and damage" resulting from climate change.

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called the agreement "an important step towards justice," in a video message issued from the conference in Egypt.

"Clearly this will not be enough, but it is a much-needed political signal to rebuild broken trust," he said, as developing countries have repeatedly called for compensation for natural disasters.

The nations at the conference were unable, however, to reach an agreement on tougher emissions restrictions.

Guterres stressed that time is running out and he accused countries of fueling the climate crisis by fighting a "suicidal war" on nature.

The agreement deadline was Friday night, but negotiations stretched into early Sunday morning before concluding.