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At the COP 19 to the UNFCCC in Warsaw, Poland, in 2013, representatives of member countries formally agreed to establish the L&D fund.
Adaptation is the proactive response to climate change, the art of survival by which communities and countries make deliberate choices to prepare for and cope with climate-related challenges.
What is the Loss and Damage fund?
The call for affluent nations to acknowledge their accountability for historic pollution is more than 30 years old.
Historic pollution has elevated the world’s average surface temperature by more than 1 degree Celsius and is currently inflicting damage worldwide.
At the COP 19 to the UNFCCC in Warsaw, Poland, in 2013, representatives of member countries formally agreed to establish the L&D fund.
It was being created to provide financial and technical assistance to economically developing nations that were incurring L&D due to climate change.
At COP 25, the Santiago Network for L&D was set up, but countries didn’t commit any funds.
Subsequently, at COP 26, the Glasgow Dialogue on finance for L&D was established to continue discussions over the next three years on the fund.
Finally, at COP 27 in November 2022, states agreed to set up the L&D fund and a Transitional Committee (TC) to figure out how the new funding mechanisms under the fund would operate.
The TC was also to prepare recommendations that countries would consider, deliberate on, and potentially adopt by COP 28.
What has caused the impasse at the TC meetings?
The fourth meeting of the TC, or TC4, concluded on October 20, 2023, with no clear consensus on operationalising the L&D fund.
The principal bones of contention had to do with hosting the fund at the World Bank.
The differences on these counts deepened the rift between developed and developing nations at the TC4 meeting.
An impromptu fifth meeting of the TC, that is TC5, in Abu Dhabi concluded a few days back, and a set of recommendations have been drafted and forwarded to COP 28.
TC5 was not on the original agenda , a sign of how contested the L&D fund continues to be.
At the TC5 meeting, developing nations conceded to the fund being hosted by the World Bank Financial Intermediary Fund for an interim period of four years, serviced by a new dedicated and independent secretariat.
What are the implications of this outcome?
The TC5 outcome highlights a profound lack of trust between affluent and emerging economies.
Regarding their historical responsibilities, creating a substantial divide between wealthy and impoverished nations, particularly concerning climate reparations.
The unwillingness of wealthy nations to fulfil intended commitments undermines faith in global climate negotiations and hampers the cooperative spirit necessary to address climate change.
It represents a missed chance to take concrete steps to combat the escalating consequences of climate change.
Vulnerable communities and signifies a breakdown in diplomatic efforts, leading to doubts about nations’ ability to collaborate effectively.
Beyond the immediate diplomatic and trust-related repercussions, the watering down of the L&D fund has wide-reaching implications.
It threatens climate justice and exacerbates the suffering of vulnerable communities in developing nations.
These communities have contributed minimally to global emissions but today bear the brunt of climate change.
The watering down can also increase the number of humanitarian crises, including via food shortage, people displacement, and conflict, and force communities to cope independently with a worsening climate and its consequences.
The absence of support has economic consequences for both developing and developed nations.
Financial crises and economic downturns in one region can have extensive repercussions due to the interconnectedness of the global economy.
Finally, climate-change-induced instability can have security implications as well, as conflicts and tensions emerge in vulnerable nations and threaten to spill across borders.
How will L&D funds ensure climate justice?
As we strive to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, we must remember that adaptation and L&D are not mutually exclusive concepts.
They exist on a continuum of climate resilience, and both have a place in our collective efforts to combat climate change.
A successful response to climate change requires us to balance the proactive measures of adaptation with the moral and financial responsibility.
The L&D fund was conceived as a critical component of global climate action, recognising that some of the consequences of climate change are irreversible and beyond the capacity of vulnerable nations to handle.
So to achieve climate justice, rich countries must meet their obligations to reduce emissions and deliver finance in line with what is fair.
Thus uphold the principles of equity, justice, and solidarity in the face of a changing climate.
Global climate action will get derailed, putting more pressure on the already beleaguered COP 28 talks later this month.
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