Nations reach deal on ‘loss and damage’ fund at Dubai climate summit

The international COP28 climate summit has reached an agreement on the logistics of a loss and damage fund, a mechanism to compensate vulnerable nations for the impact of climate change, organizers announced Thursday.

The United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the summit, will contribute $100 million to the fund, as will Germany, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze confirmed Thursday, with more than 190 nations’ negotiators backing the deal. 

Nations agreed to create the fund at last year’s COP27 meeting in Egypt, after years of minimal movement due to developed nations continually blocking the creation of a fund. In the draft agreement reached Thursday, the first day of COP28, the U.S. is set to contribute about $24.5 million, while Japan will contribute $10 million.

International leaders reached an agreement earlier in November on the general structure under which the World Bank would host the fund while a board comprised of developed and developing countries will govern the fund, with all votes requiring a four-fifths majority. 

Developing and Global South nations are frequently the most impacted by rising sea levels and extreme weather events linked to climate change, and they have expressed frustration at the gap between these effects and their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental justice advocates praised the agreement but said it must be accompanied by further action to secure meaningful compensation.

“Launching the Loss and Damage Fund on the opening day of COP28 is a significant step forward in the fight for climate justice. Low- and middle-income nations are suffering from billions of dollars of damage and an immense human toll from increasingly severe climate impacts. There’s simply no time to wait,” Rachel Cleetus, the policy director and lead economist for the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. “The initial monetary pledges announced today are a small but inadequate start. Wealthy nations, including the United States, must live up to their responsibility to provide significant contributions to the fund in the years ahead.”