After nearly 200 nations agreed at the UN COP28 summit last November to launch a fund responsible for distributing aid to developing countries to rebuild in the wake of climate disasters, many of the countries most affected by climate change have warned that they cannot wait another year for long-sought aid to recover from disasters as floods and hurricanes wreak havoc across the globe.
The appeal came during a meeting of the “loss and damage” fund that will conclude this week, amid concerns it is unlikely to be able to approve climate aid until 2025.
“We cannot wait until the end of 2025 for the first funds to get out the door,” Adao Soares Barbosa, a board member from East Timor and a long standing negotiator for the world’s poorest nations, said.
“The urgency of the needs of vulnerable countries and communities cannot be left until we have every hair in place for this fund,” he added.
Damage bills for climate disasters can run into the billions and there is barely enough cash set aside for loss and damage at present to cover just one such event, experts say.
Some countries worry that the fund’s design is not moving at a pace or scale that matches the tempo of extreme weather disasters affecting their people.
This year has witnessed a string of catastrophes on multiple continents, from floods and landslides to heatwaves and wildfires.
The “massive” destruction witnessed in recent weeks “puts immense pressure on us to deliver on our work,” said Richard Sherman, the South African co-chair of the board steering the negotiations. The fund said it wanted money approved “as soon as possible, but realistically by mid-2025,” according to an official document.
Wealthy nations have so far pledged around $661 million to the loss and damage fund. South Korea contributed an additional $7 million at the start of the week’s meeting. Estimates suggest developing countries need over $400 billion annually to rebuild after climate-related disasters. One study put the global bill at between $290-580 billion a year by 2030, and rising after that.
It may not be as urgent for the donors, but for those whose people and economies are affected by climate disasters cannot afford to wait until everything is perfect. The sooner the help can be made available, the better it is for those who are most affected. Hopefully those at the negotiating table can come together and make something good happen very soon.*
