COP28 agrees to launch the Loss and Damage Mechanism, with contributions of more than 600 million

The Twenty-seven EU countries will contribute at least 250 million euros, compared to the 17.5 million dollars announced by the US

   MADRID, 30 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The XXVIII Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change reached a multilateral agreement this Thursday to launch the Loss and Damage Fund with promises of an initial contribution of around 600 million dollars. This mechanism was one of the flaws inherited from the previous climate event, COP27 held a year ago in Egypt, and its objective is to help developing countries confront the adverse effects.

This is the first agreement reached at COP28, which opened this Thursday in Dubai and will last until December 12.

The president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, has celebrated the launch of this fund, which he has defined as "historic" to help developing countries, the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

"This Fund will support billions of people, lives and livelihoods that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change," said the Sultan.

The new fund - which was agreed at COP27 - comes into operation today after an agreement reached by the parties in five transition committee meetings with COP28. The fifth transition meeting took place in early November in Abu Dhabi.

For its implementation, the United Arab Emirates, as host of the summit, has announced that it will contribute $100 million to pave the way for other countries, as Al Jaber called on nations to follow its example and commit "immediately " resources to this mechanism.

Precisely, Spain, representing the EU Presidency, has announced that the 27 countries will contribute at least 250 million euros to the same fund. Government sources have indicated these days that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, is expected to make an announcement in this regard during his participation in the climate conclave this Friday.

"What was promised in Sharm El Sheikh has already been fulfilled in Dubai," celebrated the president of COP28, who praised the speed with which the world has come together to put this fund into operation in less than a year since Sharm The Sheikh thanked his team for the "hard work" to make this agreement possible on the first day of the Summit.

"It shows that the world can unite, act and deliver. Over the next two weeks, this Presidency will work with the Parties to now offer the most ambitious response," he defended.

During the session, Germany committed 100 million euros (included in the 250 million announced by the EU); United Kingdom, £40 million; Japan, 10 million dollars and the United States, 17.5 million dollars.

This fund will allow less developed countries to face the worst effects of climate change, even if the world meets mitigation goals, because a fixed level of warming already affects the most vulnerable communities due to storms, floods, reduced agricultural productivity and sea level rise.

The provisional manager of this fund for the next four years will be the World Bank, since in that period the Fund must establish an Independent Secretariat. This mechanism must have "at least" 100 billion dollars annually to finance losses and damages in 2030.

However, these payments are voluntary for countries, according to the text of the agreement, which establishes that the most developed are "invited" to make contributions. However, developing countries estimate that their real needs are around $400 billion annually.

Following the agreement, the head of International Climate Finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Joe Thwaites, has warned that the work is far from over because there will be no rest until the fund is "adequately funded." and really start to ease the burden on vulnerable communities."

"Success will begin when the international community can adequately support the victims of this climate crisis, with direct and effective access to the financing they urgently need," he said.

Likewise, the head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, Harjeet Singh, considers this a "historic achievement" because it will provide "urgent" aid to vulnerable communities living on the front lines of the climate crisis that have contributed little to to provoke.

"All rich and highly emitting countries now have the responsibility to step forward and contribute to the fund," he said.

For her part, the executive director of the Strategic Perspectives think tank, Linda Kalcher, has celebrated this "first success" of the COP, but regrets that "many of the concerns of developing countries have not been taken into account."

Thus, Kalcher insists that it is "vital" that leaders commit money to this fund during their speeches over the next two days.

Some 70,000 participants will meet in Dubai over these two weeks, including heads of state and government, officials, business leaders, representatives of the private sector, academics, experts, young people, and non-state actors.

During the inaugural session, the COP28 agenda was approved, which, in addition to responding to the global climate balance and increasing collective ambition with solid negotiated solutions, the Emirati Presidency has established four main pillars: the acceleration of the fair and orderly energy transition ; improve climate finance; focus on people, nature, lives and livelihoods, and foster inclusion.