REMINDER TO THE BOARD: THE WORLD BANK AND THE LOSS AND DAMAGE FUND ARE UNCOMFORTABLY PAIRED

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03 / 04 / 2024

Aladina and Bilal Zacarias Gomes doing homework at their house which was ravaged by Cyclone Freddy. Aladina explained how the cyclone impacted their school, “We had to study under a tree and sit on the ground because the desks were submerged”. In Mozambique, Cyclone Freddy was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, with significant consequences for children’s education. Image credit: “Students do their homework” Mbuto Machili / Global Partnership for Education - GPE, October 10, 2023, licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED licence.

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As we look towards the first meeting of the Board of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) —following the much-delayed nomination of developed country Board members— this brief seeks to remind Parties and observers of the reasons why the World Bank and the LDF are uncomfortably paired and what conditions the Bank must meet to become the interim host of the secretariat of the Fund. The brief also looks at what can be done at the first meeting of the Board of the LDF and in the context of the 2024 International Monetary Fund - World Bank Spring Meetings to encourage the World Bank to make known whether it can meet the conditions set out in the COP28 decision for it to become interim host. As well as what the World Bank would need to do for the Board of the Fund to agree to the World Bank becoming the long term host of the Fund’s secretariat.

Read the full paper here: