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As world leaders prepare to gather in Azerbaijan for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, they face a critical moment in the fight against climate change. This year alone, deadly heatwaves, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires have surged, hitting countries in the Global South the hardest —despite them contributing least to the problem. 

Three years ago, Glasgow captured the world’s attention as the host city for COP26. During this conference, Scotland became the first Global North government to pledge funding specifically to address ‘loss and damage’, which refers to the climate impacts that cannot be avoided or adapted to—like homes destroyed by storms and land lost to rising sea levels. 

Our initial £2 million commitment was more than a financial commitment. It was a statement to respond to the calls from those disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis, who had long demanded for the recognition of loss and damage on the global stage. 

Following similar recognition from others, this led to the operationalisation last year, at COP28, of the UNFCCC’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD). This fund now totals over US$ 600 million, with over US$ 750 million committed to loss and damage more widely.  

The existence of this fund, however, is only the start. We must now ensure that funding can be accessed fairly and reaches communities who need it the most. Countries like Scotland have a moral obligation to act – and that means more than pledging, it means a commitment to deliver on climate justice.

For Scotland, the commitment to climate justice is not new. Since 2012, we have placed equity and fairness at the heart of our international action. We remain proud of our world first Climate Justice Fund and our decision to treble it to £36 million over the course of our parliament. 

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L&D: principles from practical action

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Looking ahead to COP29, Scotland’s focus will be on ensuring adequate finance reaches vulnerable communities quickly through the operationalisation of the FRLD and ensuring that the new goal for climate finance (New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG)) reflects the true scale of the challenge. We have learnt from our Climate Justice Fund that climate finance mechanisms are more effective when guided by principles of equity, human rights, and urgency. 

We have learned that our programmes achieved the greatest impact and helped many people endure the toughest of times when funds were easily accessible, provided as grants and not loans, and were delivered swiftly to communities in response to their specific needs. Based on this learning, working closely with our partners, we will be making the case for a proportion of the FRLD to be made directly available to communities in the form of grants, not loans.

Vulnerable countries and communities already face economic challenges —they should not be asked to take on further debt as they rebuild from the impacts of climate change. This will ensure that the most affected communities have access to immediate resources without adding to their financial burden. 

With extreme weather events becoming increasingly frequent, the ability to deploy funds quickly is critical. For example, in Malawi after Cyclone Freddy, we learned that direct unconditional cash transfers via mobile money could deliver immediate support to families in temporary displacement camps, helping them relocate and rebuild their lives. This is why we are advocating for a rapid-response window within the FRLD, to ensure that support can be delivered promptly when disasters strike.

Equally important is the recognition that loss and damage extends beyond the economic. Our non-economic loss and damage programme acknowledges that the impacts of climate change are often unseen, for example loss of Indigenous knowledge; and the clear link between climate change and biodiversity loss. Scotland will continue to advocate for a holistic approach to loss and damage that acknowledges these less visible, but no less significant, impacts of the climate crisis.

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The new global goal on climate finance, the NCQG

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At COP29, the discussions on the NCQG present a critical opportunity to ensure that loss and damage is firmly recognised as the third pillar of climate finance. If funding is to truly meet needs, loss and damage must be recognised and anchored as a distinct subgoal within the NCQG, alongside mitigation and adaptation finance. 

Our partners in the global south tell us that climate finance must not only be adequate in scale, but also transparent, accountable, and inclusive. In particular, climate finance needs to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls. We know from our own programmes that investments in women and girls can lead to stronger, more resilient communities. 

For instance, our Climate Just Communities programmes in Zambia, Malawi and Rwanda are designed with a commitment to gender balance and set explicit objectives for disability inclusion, ensuring that women, girls, and persons with disabilities have a voice in decision-making. This approach empowers women and girls, and people with disabilities to shape their own responses to the climate crisis, leading to more sustainable and effective outcomes. 

Consistent with our own approach to our Climate Justice Fund, we will be calling on funders to report against the OECD DAC Gender Equality Markers, and OECD DAC Policy Marker on the Inclusion and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities to ensure that climate finance is both gender-responsive as well as disability- responsive.

At COP26, Scotland demonstrated that even a relatively small nation can make a significant contribution. At COP29, we are making our contribution by sharing what we have learned. Although our funding may be modest relative to the global needs, we have taken the first steps towards climate justice, and now we invite others to join us in scaling up efforts and mobilising greater action. Together we can fight climate injustice in a considered way to achieve lasting climate justice.

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Gillian Martin is Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy in the Scottish Government.

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Image credit: The image accompanying this OP-ED provides a snippet of what the Scottish Governments funding did: Our GiveDirectly programme distributed £1 million of unconditional cash transfers between October 2023 and March 2024 to 1800 households from 50 villages across Nsanje District, displaced by Tropical Cyclone Freddy. Recipients used the cash transfers in a variety of ways: including to rebuild homes, undertake agriculture to improve food security and pay medical expenses. Visit 'GiveDirectly: Send money to people living in poverty' to find out more about their work.

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