Climate change fund: $319mn available for Loss and Damage

A road map for the start-up phase of the fund for responding to Loss and Damage was put up for agreement by the Board of the Fund which includes representation from developed and developing country parties on Thursday at its 5th board meeting in Barbados, but experts say some of the provisions pose significant concerns over potential dilution of its purpose and effectiveness.

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI:

The draft text states that current resources available for Loss and Damage is $319 million. Until now $768.40 million has been pledged to the fund.

It also decides to establish the Barbados Response Action Plan to respond to loss and damage, consisting of a first set of interventions for the calendar years 2025 and 2026 for an amount of $250 million.

The fund was fully operationalised at UN Climate Conference (COP29) in Baku last year. It is meant to assist developing countries in dealing with loss and damage associated with climate change, especially extreme weather events.

"Loss and damage" is a term used in UN climate negotiations to refer to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to; for example, the loss due to rising sea levels or the loss of homes and lives during extreme floods.