COP28: Historic Agreement on Loss and Damage fund

Last week, the Loss and Damage Fund was finally agreed on day one of COP28, marking a breakthrough to help the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries with the irreversible impacts of climate breakdown.

Its adoption comes a year after COP27 where, after a culmination of decades of campaigning, governments first laid the cornerstone of a long-awaited fund to deliver vital support to vulnerable countries and communities being devastated by the accelerating climate crisis. Like other INGOs and civil society organisations, Islamic Relief welcomed the agreement and viewed it is a first step in the right direction towards climate justice. 

The initial funding currently stands close to $430m – host country United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany both pledged $100m, $75m came from the UK, and $24.5m from the US and $10m from Japan. Although this is a good start, we know that more funds are urgently needed to make a substantive difference to communities in need. Many questions also still remain around the fund’s size and how it will be administered over the long term. 

Lessons not learned

Poor and vulnerable countries and communities least responsible for climate breakdown are already bearing the brunt of its negative impacts in the form of floods, hurricanes, desertification, and rising sea levels – this makes loss and damage an issue of climate justice. The Loss and Damage fund is designed to support these countries deal with the negative impacts that are already unavoidable and a lived reality.

This fund is important because countries like Pakistan will plunge deeper into debt and poverty every time they are hit by climate disasters – with the most marginalised populations bearing the burden.

Pakistan contributes 0.1% of global emissions, yet the devastating floods in 2022 have cost Pakistan’s economy $20-30 billion and have caused massive damage to infrastructure, as well as destroying many rural agricultural and pastoral livelihoods. Devastation of this scale could have been prevented if the loss and damage funding promised in 2009 had materialised and rich countries responsible for the bulk of historic gas emissions had made meaningful commitments to address climate breakdown. 

The devastation in Pakistan showcases the need for an appropriate financial mechanism to address loss and damage where adaptation and mitigation are insufficient. 

Why does COP28 matter?

COP28 comes at a decisive moment for international climate action. It follows a year of extreme weather events in which many climate records have been broken. We look to the delegates of COP28 to put the world on a more sustainable path to accelerate climate action. Following recent news that the UK government was rowing back on its international climate finance commitments, this is an opportunity for the UK government to demonstrate its leadership and rebuild its reputation and influence on this vital issue.

At Islamic Relief, we welcome the landmark Loss and Damage fund agreed at COP28 and the commitment of global leaders to support vulnerable countries and communities on the front line of the climate crisis. But to meet the urgent needs of the countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the fund must get off the ground as soon as possible. We urge rich nations to make new and additional commitments to the fund on a scale which reflects the global climate crisis and the threat that it poses to billions around the world, and we urge that the fund provides grants not loans to prevent increasing indebtedness of poorer and vulnerable nations.