A storm cloud and coral reef in the Indian ocean. From February 2023 to April 2024, significant coral bleaching has been documented in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of each major ocean basin as a result of the climate crisis. Image credit: Willyam Bradberry / ShutterStock
This brief on the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage provides an overview of the COP 28/CMA 5 decisions that operationalised the Fund, with particular focus on the hosting arrangements and the pledges of USD 661 million for the Fund’s initial capitalisation. The paper then provides an overview of what needs to happen in 2024 to ensure that the Fund is fully operational and disbursing Loss and Damage finance in early 2025.
In doing so, the brief considers what was achieved at the first meeting of the Board of the Fund which took place in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, from the 30th of April to the 2nd of May, 2024, and what was achieved at the second meeting of the Board which took place on the 9th to the 12th of July, 2024, in Songdo, in the Republic of South Korea. It also highlights key recommendations for subsequent Board meetings. Key issues for the Fund considered in the paper include: access modalities, allocation of funds, resource mobilisation and instruments and funding structures. The brief concludes with a mapping of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings and processes that are relevant to the work of the Fund in 2024.
The development of this discussion paper is supported by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung New York Office with support from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).