“And the best way to show it is by showing up at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.”Rich countries, especially the United States, have emitted far more than their share of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, data shows.The issue is fundamental for the world’s developing countries and Guterres is reminding rich nations “that they cannot try and brush it under the carpet ... G20 nations have to take responsibility for the great need their actions have caused,” said Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa, which tries to mobilize climate action in Africa.Princeton University climate science and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer said in an email that if high-income and other big emitters like China want the U.N. convention on climate change to remain useful, “they will need to grapple seriously with loss and damage.”Otherwise, he said, negotiations “are headed for interminable gridlock.”Poor countries with low emissions can simply refuse to discuss anything else until the issue is resolved, Oppenheimer said.Richer countries may find a way around the issue without paying for direct damage by paying poorer nations more to adapt to lessen future disasters, but even then developed nations will have to pay out money, not just make promises as they have in the past, he said.Guterres’ remarks “highlight what small islands and least developed countries have been arguing for decades — that loss and damage is irrefutable and already disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable countries and communities,” said Adelle Thomas, a climate scientist from the Bahamas."