COP28, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), began with the landmark adoption of an agreement on a new Loss and Damage Fund.
The loss and damage fund will help developing countries vulnerable to climate change disasters. Its scale or replenishment cycle, however, remains unclear.
The initial funding is estimated to be $475 million host UAE pledged $100 million, the European Union promised $275 million, $17.5 million from the US, and $10 million from Japan, according to media reports.
What is the loss and damage fund?
It is a global financial package to ensure the rescue and rehabilitation of countries facing the cascading effects of climate change. The term refers to the compensation that rich nations, whose industrial growth has resulted in global warming and driven the planet into a climate crisis, must pay to poor nations, whose carbon footprint is low but are facing the brunt of rising sea levels, floods, crippling droughts, and intense cyclones, among others.
How will it operate?
The World Bank will oversee the loss and damage fund in the beginning, with the source of funds being rich nations, such as the US, the UK and the EU, as well as some developing countries.
The loss and damage fund was first announced during COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, last year.
