Men's swimming cap Scotland's commitment to climate damage fund 'a massive breakthrough'

Men's swimming cap A leading climate expert has welcomed a decision by Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to donate to a compensation fund for countries whose economies have been damaged by climate change

Saleemul Huq, who is the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, has hailed the £1m contribution as a massive breakthrough.

Developing countries share a deep resentment that they suffer from climate change that rich nations have caused.

Rich nations are already helping vulnerable countries protect themselves from the ravages of global heating, by building sea walls for instance.

But wealthy nations have never acknowledged legal liability for the impact of their emissions - because the bill could run into trillions.

Professor Huq has been pushing for decades for a fund to compensate poor nations for the damage to their economies and their development from events such as floods and wildfires.

That so-called loss and damage fund now has its first donation, with the £1m from Nicola Sturgeon.

The sum has been mocked by some as trivial. But Professor Huq says it’s the first time any developed nation has tacitly admitted responsibility for contributing to overheating the world – and he believes it won't be the last.