Aalst

But van Aalst noted the days of torrential rains that battered Scandinavia in early August, overwhelming dams, destroying roads, forcing thousands to evacuate and causing more than $150 million in damage.

“Because we’re not a behemoth, we can be more responsive to community needs,” van Aalst said.

Van Aalst called the framework "a pretty technical step forward" and a "helpful piece of progress."

“It’s not up to us as scientists to tell negotiators what to do,” said Dr. van Aalst, who is attending the climate talks, known as COP27.

Ecological disasters like the widespread drought and then massive flooding in Pakistan, are the “fingerprints of climate change,” Martin van Aalst, a climate scientist at Columbia University and study co-author, said.