CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS

Activation of loss and damage fund at COP28 a ‘critical global solidarity moment’ – Creecy

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has welcomed the agreement ahead of COP28 regarding the operationalisation of the Climate Loss and Damage Fund, the establishment of which was seen as a key breakthrough of COP27, held in Egypt last year.

However, she immediately called for the fund to be “capitalised at a scale necessary to respond to the costs and impacts already borne by developing countries”.

Agreement on the fund’s operationalisation was reached on November 4 by the Transition Committee of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; a meeting co-chaired by South Africa’s Richard Sherman and Finland’s Outi Honkatukia.

COP28 president Dr Sultan Al Jaber said the breakthrough, which was currently being “socialised” with national governments, paved the way for the agreement to be activated and capitalised at COP28, scheduled for Dubai from November 30 to December 12.

Loss and damage are defined as climate impacts that cannot be avoided in developing countries by mitigation and adaptation for which the projected economic costs are estimated to be between $290-billion and $580-billion by 2030 and to rise to between $1-trillion and $1.8-trillion by 2050.

If activated, the fund will provide direct support in the form of largely grant-based and non-debt finance to support reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in developing countries. It would also have a board, with members balanced between developed and developing countries, that will take its guidance from the parties to the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement.

“The final approval of this agreement at COP28 presents the international community with a critical global solidarity moment to ensure the fund is capitalised at a scale necessary to respond to the costs and impacts already borne by developing countries,” Creecy said in a statement.

She urged the COP28 presidency to launch a process for the initial core capitalisation from developed countries, supplemented by financial inputs from a variety of other sources in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.