A committee set up to help work out the details of a loss and damage fund — to address the irreversible effects of climate change — has failed to reach consensus, highlighting the challenges ahead at the UN Cop 28 climate summit.
The transitional committee met on 17-20 October in Aswan, Egypt, in what was scheduled to be its fourth and final meeting ahead of Cop 28. It has now added a fifth meeting, for 3-5 November in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The committee cannot make political decisions, but its aim is to provide recommendations as a starting point for discussions at Cop 28, scheduled for November-December in Dubai.
The committee could not reach agreement on key issues after talks into the early hours of 21 October during the fourth meeting, civil society observers said.
"If committee members cannot reach common ground at the final gathering… we are destined for very rocky negotiations in Dubai", said research organisation World Resources Institute (WRI) global climate programme senior advisor Preety Bhandari. "The entire Cop 28 negotiations could get derailed if developing countries' priorities on funding for loss and damage are not adequately addressed."
Developed countries have called for the fund to be hosted by the World Bank, while developing countries want the fund to sit within UN climate body the UNFCCC. A UNFCCC-hosted fund would align with the body's principles, civil society organisations said. These include equity and a common but differentiated responsibility, which refers to the duty of all countries to take climate action but acknowledges the types of action they take will depend on national circumstances.
The committee also failed to reach an outcome on which countries would be eligible to receive funding. Developing nations insist the fund is accessible to all developing countries, while a proposal from developed countries suggests it should serve "particularly vulnerable" countries, such as the least developed and small island developing states.
There was no outcome on a possible amount of finance, although one proposal suggested an "initial commitment" of at least $100bn/yr by 2030.
Parties to the UNFCCC agreed at Cop 27, in November last year, to establish a fund for loss and damage, although no further details were decided. The topic dominated the summit, as part of the wider subject of climate finance. Recent climate talks have failed to progress mitigation — cutting global emissions — as developing countries call for meaningful finance to tackle climate change.
