Today's Edition
SHABAN BILAL (CAIRO) - The United Arab Emirates hosting the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in November is a great opportunity to put in place executive mechanisms for the Loss and Damage Fund, which was announced in the last COP edition in Sharm El Sheikh, with a focus on creating opportunities for sustainable economic and social growth.
Climate and sustainable development expert Dr. Mohamed Daoud believes that establishing the Loss and Damage Fund is an important step towards making progress in financing poor and developing countries to mitigate the effects of climate change.
He pointed out that governments agreed to establish a transitional committee to provide recommendations on setting up an implementation mechanism for the new financial arrangements at the upcoming COP28. The issue of “losses and damages” was first considered in 1991 in Geneva through an alliance of small island states, with the aim of developing a plan to protect these islands against rising sea levels.
During the COP27 summit in Sharm El Sheikh last year, some European Union countries softened their stance during the last days of the conference, paving the way for the agreement.
Daoud told Aletihad that the COP28 organising committee wants to launch Loss and Damage Fund workshops to discuss the mechanism of the fund’s work. He expressed hope that these discussions will define the fund’s beneficiary countries of the fund, its priorities, and financing sources. The first payments under this fund are to be implemented at the beginning of 2025.
The climate and development expert pointed out that the special committee for the Loss and Damage Fund has held two meetings so far, and there are still two more meetings before the final report is formulated and presented at the upcoming COP28 in the UAE in November.
During a meeting organised by the COP28 Presidency at the Abu Dhabi Global Market in August, leading global economists and financial sector leaders agreed on the next steps for presenting a new international climate financing framework for international climate financing. Daoud praised the UAE’s vigorous efforts to persuade countries that were against the Loss and Damage Fund at COP27.
Their reasoning was that, because there are many existing funds, there is no need to establish a fund for losses and damage. Daoud also noted that some of these countries suggested financing losses and damages from one of the existing funds, such as the Green Climate Fund or the Adaptation Fund. Daoud pointed out that the whole world is excitedly waiting for the outcomes of COP28, especially after the United Nations Secretary-General’s statements about the end of the warming era and the beginning of the global boiling era, emphasising the necessity of supporting climate action and providing facilitated financing at a suitable cost, in conjunction with achieving sustainable economic and social development globally.
Climate and water resources expert Dr. Osama Sallam explained that the Loss and Damage Fund is dedicated to assisting developing and poor countries affected by the effects of climate change, such as floods, drought, and rising sea levels.
Sallam told Aletihad that COP28 is an opportunity to put in place executive mechanisms for the Loss and Damage Fund through several steps, the most important of which are identifying sources of funding, which include contributions from developed countries, taxes on activities that cause climate change, and donations from the private sector, in addition to determining distribution mechanisms that must be fair and effective.
The climate expert emphasised the need to develop a framework for handling requests submitted to the fund, which must specify the criteria and procedures that affected countries must follow to obtain financing, noting that COP28 is an opportunity to enhance awareness of the importance of the Loss and Damage Fund and that participating countries should push towards activating it through events and awareness campaigns.
