A day prior to the the formal inauguration of the U.N. climate negotiations, delegates from over 190 countries started informal parleys for setting up common positions and strategies.

Many rounds of meetings between different blocs of countries and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) officials too went on in parallel with the Polish presidency keen to figure out a common ground.

The term “loss and damage” started to buzz even as diplomats and negotiators from over 190 countries continued to arrive in the Polish capital. The phrase refers to demands of the backward countries that they must be compensated for inevitable losses that were caused by the rising level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

The Indian government has encouraged its negotiating team based in Warsaw to work with the similar-minded developing countries and the BASIC to make sure that a formal working mechanism on addressing “loss and damage” is locked in on at the Warsaw discussions.