COP28 began with historical agreement on Climate Loss and Damage Fund

On Thursday 30 November, the parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change reached an agreement on a fund to compensate for climate loss and damage. The fund has been a high priority especially for small and poor countries.

The UN Climate Conference COP28 began in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates on Thursday 30 November. The negotiations started with an agreement on the Climate Loss and Damage Fund. The Fund will be used to support the most vulnerable countries in dealing with losses and damages caused by climate change. The decision on the Fund was made in COP27 last year in Egypt, but an agreement on the details was reached on the first day of the meeting in Dubai.

“This is a truly historical decision as it also means that the ‘firewall’ between developed and developing countries was broken. The United Arab Emirates, which holds the Presidency and is classified as a developing country in the negotiations, committed to allocating USD 100 million to the Fund. Earlier, climate finance was considered to be the responsibility of the developed, that is, the traditional industrialised countries. Germany committed USD 100 million to the Fund, and many other EU countries will also make their own commitments to it,” says the EU’s Chief Negotiator Outi Honkatukia. 

Honkatukia has had a key role in the Standing Committee that prepared the Fund. The Standing Committee gave its proposal for the decision on the financing arrangements for COP28 earlier this autumn. Honkatukia acted as one of the two co-chairs of the Committee.

Financing arrangements for climate loss and damage have played an important part in the previous UN Climate Conferences. It has been a crucial issue especially for small and poor countries and island states that suffer the most from the losses and damages caused by climate change.

“I hope that this decision will give a positive momentum to the Conference. It gives an opportunity for the EU to focus on the important issues of emission reductions and actions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees,” Honkatukia says.

inland and the EU are strong advocates of phasing out fossil fuels and increasing the production of renewable clean energy. The Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement that assesses the implementation and progress of the Agreement and the adequacy of the measures will also culminate at COP28.

The actions to reduce emissions are not enough to reach the goal of 1.5 degrees. The Stocktake should lead to measures that raise the emission reduction targets.

Inquiries:

Outi Honkatukia
Head of the Climate Unit
tel. +358 50 341 1758
[email protected]
(in Dubai 27 November–15 December)

Marjo Nummelin
Chief Negotiator for Climate Change
tel. +358 295 250 227
[email protected]
(in Dubai 27 November–15 December)