The Latest | UN Climate Summit

They are an important part of NATO and of the European Union, Timmermans told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the United Nations climate conference in Egypts seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.We stand as one in this, and I hope we can get clarity of what actually happened very soon, he said. Climate envoy John Kerry said the US is fully engaged in talks with China at the UN climate summit underway in Egypt.Kerry met with Chinas top climate official Xie Zhenhua Tuesday, a hint of improving relations seen as vital for substantial progress against global warming.

A senior European Union official said they were still establishing the facts about a missile that fell in NATO-member Poland, killing two people. It remains unclear who fired it, though US President Joe Biden said it was "unlikely" it was fired from Russia.

EU climate chief Frans Timmermans said Wednesday that the bloc stands beside Poland which is also an EU member.

"We are in full solidarity with Poland and the Polish people. They are an important part of NATO and of the European Union,'' Timmermans told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the United Nations climate conference in Egypt's seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"We stand as one in this, and I hope we can get clarity of what actually happened very soon," he said.

___ Climate envoy John Kerry said the US is "fully engaged" in talks with China at the UN climate summit underway in Egypt.

Kerry met with China's top climate official Xie Zhenhua Tuesday, a hint of improving relations seen as vital for substantial progress against global warming. Beijing put talks on hold three months ago in retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan.

Asked what the outcome of the summit may be, Kerry replied: "We'll have to see, it's a late start." Speaking at an event to mark the conference's themed day on biodiversity, Kerry confirmed he had also met with Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Tuesday.

Kerry said he "was really encouraged by the ways in which he talked about once and for all getting it right, pulling people together in order to preserve the Amazon".

___ A lawmaker with the German Green party has called for establishing a legal structure to force polluters to pay for the destruction caused by climate change in vulnerable nations.

Speaking at an event at the UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, Michael Bloss pointed to the devastating flooding in Pakistan this summer, which put one third of the country's population underwater and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.

The floods ''are directly caused by the climate crisis," he said, adding that the the world's biggest emitters "are responsible for losses and damages".

Bloss criticised European governments for weakening efforts to establish a loss and damage fund which he said has "great support" in the European parliament.

The issue of compensation was once considered a taboo, because rich countries were concerned that they might find themselves paying vast sums. Intense pressure from developing countries forced the issue of "loss and damage" onto the formal agenda at the talks for the first time this year.