Cop28 live: key funding deal to help poorer nations cope with impact of climate crisis agreed | Cop28
Loss and damage funding arrangement agreed
Countries have just agreed on the operationalisation of the loss and damage fund to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate breakdown.
The news drew a standing ovation from delegates.
The creation of the fund has long been a stumbling block at climate talks, and the agreement on the first day of the conference has been tentatively welcomed by many delegates, although it will not be officially rubberstamped until the close of the conference.
Some early reaction:
“The loss and damage fund will be a lifeline to people in their darkest hour, enabling families to rebuild their homes after disaster strikes, support farmers when their crops are wiped out and relocate those that become permanently displaced by rising seas. This outcome was hard-fought but is a clear step forward.
“The success of this fund will depend on the speed and scale at which funds start flowing to people in need. We call on world leaders to announce substantial contributions at Cop28 – not only to cover start-up costs but also to fill the fund itself. People in vulnerable countries will face up to $580bn in climate-related damages in 2030 and this number will only continue to grow.”
– Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO, World Resources Institute
“Amid the historic decision to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund within a year of its establishment, addressing underlying concerns becomes critical. On one hand, rich countries have pushed for the World Bank to host this fund under the guise of ensuring a speedy response. Conversely, they have attempted to dilute their financial obligations and resisted defining a clear finance mobilisation scale.
“The responsibility now lies with affluent nations to meet their financial obligations in a manner proportionate to their role in the climate crisis, which has been primarily driven by decades of unrestrained fossil fuel consumption and a lack of adequate climate finance delivered to the global south.”
– Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International
Key events
We’re still waiting, so here’s another of the best dressed conference attendees.
An early frontrunner in this year’s fashion stakes is Briseida Iglesias, a Guna indigenous leader from Panama, sage of the songs and other spiritual practices of the Gunadule people.
She is the founder of Bundorgan Women’s Network, a front line organisation for the revitalisation of ancestral farming and medicine practices. She is also an expert on the traditional textiles worn by Guna women as symbol of protection, cultural resistance and connection with mother Earth.
The conference is still being delayed – 80 minutes overdue now – but we are assured “they are on their way and will be here very soon”.
When asked what “very soon” meant, the Cop28 spokesman replied “10 to 15 minutes” – the same response he gave an hour ago – which was met with laughter in the hall.
British academic Matthew Hedges, who was imprisoned by the United Arab Emirates for seven months after being accused of spying, has warned visitors to Cop28 not to fall into the same trap he did.
He warned attendees to: “take a clean phone, a new phone with limited access. Do not have social media on your phone, or if you do, make sure it is a business account, with two-factor authentication, or something like this, and do the same for the safety, integrity of your emails.”
He also said attendees should be particularly careful not to inadvertently put their contacts at risk:
“It isn’t just you, it’s anyone you are connecting with, because there are laws which restrict and criminalise working with international organisations that could be perceived to be critical of the government.”
Dan Sabbagh has the full story here:
Nina Lakhani
It’s all about fossil fuels. That was the key message from the Climate Action Network, the world’s largest coalition of climate NGOs, who used their first daily briefing to echo calls from António Guterres demanding an agreement on phasing out oil, gas and coal.
“This is going to be a festival of distraction, of miracle tech fixes including carbon capture and storage which will be framed as essential. But this is no substitute for the full phase out of fossil fuels which must be fast, full, fair and funded; it’s about these four Fs,” said Romain Ioualalen, global policy campaign manager at Oil Change International, at CAN’s first daily briefing.
It’s hard to stay optimistic that Cop28 can achieve the decisive action needed to tackle the climate emergency, given the host’s intimate relationship with oil and gas, but giving up will play into the fossil fuel industry’s hands, warned Teresa Anderson, ActionAid International’s global climate justice lead. “We cannot stop believing, we cannot give up. We have to get an outcome on fossil fuel phaseout.”
Long queues have been reported by attendees at the conference. Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute tweeted that he had been waiting an hour for registration.
After an hour of queuing, I can now see the front entrance for #COP28. The advice for anyone else intending to register today, wear comfortable footwear and cool clothing, and bring water, sun cream and lots of patience! pic.twitter.com/Q4Ezncgm4R
— Bob Ward (@ret_ward) November 30, 2023
It is still far less chaotic than the scenes in Glasgow two years ago, where thousands of people were kept outside for hours, and the notoriously queue-plagued Cop15 in Copenhagen in 2009. Those in the queues will also be glad that Dubai is significantly warmer than those venues.
Nina Lakhani
While we wait for the press conference to start – now 45 minutes overdue – here’s another entry to the best dressed competition in the form of Grace Louis, 23, from the Toposa tribe in South Sudan, where drought and floods are severely affeecting communities.
Grace is a Cop first timer and is in Dubai representing the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance.
The US – which is both the world’s wealthiest country and its biggest polluter – is coming in for some criticism for its relatively paltry contribution to the loss and damage fund.
Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, said: “The initial funding pledges are clearly inadequate and will be a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the need they are to address. In particular, the amount announced by the US is embarrassing for president Biden and John Kerry. It just shows how this must be just the start.
“Although rules have been agreed regarding how the fund will operate there are no hard deadlines, no targets and countries are not obligated to pay into it, despite the whole point being for rich, high polluting nations to support vulnerable communities who have suffered from climate impacts.
“The US and other rich countries wanted the fund to be hosted by the World Bank. This has been agreed, but on an interim basis, and only as long as it operates in a transparent and easy to access way, something the World Bank is not known for. If it proves unfit for the task, we will need to set up a separate entity to do the job.
“The most pressing issue now is to get money flowing into the fund and to the people that need it. The pledged funds must not just be repackaged commitments. We need new money, in the form of grants, not loans, otherwise it will just pile more debt onto some of the poorest countries in the world, defeating the point of a fund designed to improve lives.”
Nina Lakhani
Some key points on the loss and damage funding agreement:
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The World Bank will be the interim host for a period of four years, and the fund will have an independent secretariat with developed and developing countries represented
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It’s been agreed that the fund will have “at least’ $100bn a year by 2030, with developing countries saying that actual needs are already closer to $400bn annually. Loss and damage for climate breakdown cost about $1.5tn in 2022, according to one recent study.
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Payments into the fund will be voluntary, with developed countries “invited”, not obliged, to contribute
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All developing countries will be eligible to directly access resources from the fund, with a minimum percentage allocation to the least developed countries and small island developing states.
The press conference scheduled for 5pm local time (1pm GMT) has still not begun, and attendees have been told it is likely to be another 10 to 15 minutes. Restless delegates can be seen pacing the floors of the conference centre.
The conference – when it does begin – can be watched here on the official UNFCCC feed:
The term “loss and damage” has been debated and fought over fiercely since it was first used by the UN in the Bali Action Plan of 2007. If you’re wondering what exactly it refers to, my colleague Nina Lakhani has written a handy guide to what it is and why the entire Cop process hinges on it here:
More reactions are coming in to the the agreement on the operationalisation of the loss and damage fund.
Ghiwa Nakat, executive director of Greenpeace MENA, said: “For communities suffering from climate-related loss and damage every contribution matters. This is the kind of leadership we expect from the host country and we urge other countries to follow suit. Rich developed countries must step up with major contributions to the new fund, and polluting industries must also be made to pay. If the Cop presidency can build on this with a consensus agreement on a just phasing out of fossil fuels, Cop28 will indeed be an historic event.”
Mariana Paoli, Christian Aid’s global advocacy lead, said: “This time last year, at the start of Cop27 in Egypt, the loss and damage fund was not even on the agenda for that meeting. So it’s a testament to the determination of developing country negotiators that we now already have the fund agreed and established.
“The fact that the World Bank is to be the interim host of the fund is a worry for developing countries. It needs to be closely scrutinised to ensure vulnerable communities are able to get easy and direct access to funds and the whole operation is run with far more transparency than the World Bank normally operates on. These were the conditions agreed by countries and if they are not kept to, a separate arrangement will be needed.
“It’s now vital we see the fund filled. People who have contributed the least to the climate crisis are already suffering climate losses and damages. The longer they are forced to wait for financial support to cover these costs, the greater the injustice. At Cop28 we need to see significant new and additional pledges of money to the loss and damage fund, and not just repackaged climate finance that has already been committed.”
Fanny Petitbon, head of advocacy for Care France, said: “Today is a landmark day for climate justice, but clearly not the end of the fight. We hope the agreement will result in rapid delivery of support for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. However, it has many shortcomings. It enables historical emitters to evade their responsibility. It also fails to establish the scale of finance needed and ensure that the fund is anchored in human rights principles.
“The loss and damage fund must not remain an empty promise. We urgently call on all governments who are most responsible for the climate emergency and have the capacity to contribute to announce significant pledges in the form of grants. Historical emitters must lead the way. Financial commitments must not be about robbing Peter to pay Paul: funding must be new and additional.”
The US has announced $17.5m for the loss and damage fund, $4.5m for the Pacific Resilience Facility which is focused on the island nations in that ocean, and $2.5m for the Santiago Network, which provides technical support for countries affected by climate breakdown.
Japan has also pledged $10m for the main loss and damage fund.
These significant pledges, which already amount to about $300m, will increase the pressure on other wealthy nations to contribute to the fund.
The funding is starting to roll in. Germany has also announced it will put $100m towards the loss and damage fund, and the UK has announced £60m ($75m), made up of £40 for the fund and £20m for funding arrangements.
Kate Hampton of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation welcomed the UAE’s pledge: “Dr Sultan has managed what no previous Cop president has and got a big decision agreed on day one. Their $100m is a bold move of south-south solidarity. This is exciting leadership.”
UAE pledges $100m to loss and damage fund
Immediately after the announcement that the loss and damage funding arrangements had been agreed, the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the talks, pledged $100m to the fund.
BREAKING: The UAE is committing $100 million to Loss and Damage, an important milestone in delivering for vulnerable communities and building resilience for people suffering the devastating impacts of climate change.
We encourage leaders to raise ambition and unlock the crucial… pic.twitter.com/1q2jopFuok— COP28 UAE (@COP28_UAE) November 30, 2023
Loss and damage funding arrangement agreed
Countries have just agreed on the operationalisation of the loss and damage fund to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate breakdown.
The news drew a standing ovation from delegates.
The creation of the fund has long been a stumbling block at climate talks, and the agreement on the first day of the conference has been tentatively welcomed by many delegates, although it will not be officially rubberstamped until the close of the conference.
Some early reaction:
“The loss and damage fund will be a lifeline to people in their darkest hour, enabling families to rebuild their homes after disaster strikes, support farmers when their crops are wiped out and relocate those that become permanently displaced by rising seas. This outcome was hard-fought but is a clear step forward.
“The success of this fund will depend on the speed and scale at which funds start flowing to people in need. We call on world leaders to announce substantial contributions at Cop28 – not only to cover start-up costs but also to fill the fund itself. People in vulnerable countries will face up to $580bn in climate-related damages in 2030 and this number will only continue to grow.”
– Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO, World Resources Institute
“Amid the historic decision to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund within a year of its establishment, addressing underlying concerns becomes critical. On one hand, rich countries have pushed for the World Bank to host this fund under the guise of ensuring a speedy response. Conversely, they have attempted to dilute their financial obligations and resisted defining a clear finance mobilisation scale.
“The responsibility now lies with affluent nations to meet their financial obligations in a manner proportionate to their role in the climate crisis, which has been primarily driven by decades of unrestrained fossil fuel consumption and a lack of adequate climate finance delivered to the global south.”
– Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International
Nina Lakhani
Climate justice advocates have condemned the atrocities in Gaza and called for a permanent ceasefire, in the first Palestinian solidarity event of Cop28.
“As human beings, we cannot ignore the absolutely horrendous situation in Gaza. But it is also not a coincidence that the same countries allowing and supporting Israel are the same ones blocking progress on climate action,” said Lidy Nacpil, director of the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development and convener of the Cop28 Coalition. “As the whole world gathers here, it is our responsibility to talk about what is happening in Palestine.”
The UNFCCC cut off the livestream as Asad Rehman, director of the UK-based organisation War on Want, called for a permanent ceasefire and accountability.
“The Palestinian struggle is woven into every struggle for justice including climate justice,” he said. “We want an end to ethnic cleansing, an end to the genocide, an end to war crimes. We want a free Palestine.”
“There is no climate justice without human rights.”
“Stop the genocide, stop the ecocide”. Palestinian solidarity at Cop28…. Unfccc cut off the live stream as @chilledasad100 called for war crimes to be punished pic.twitter.com/6yK69JRw4q— Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) November 30, 2023
The livestream was resumed after the organisers and attendees made a lot of noise.
More than 15,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have died since 7 October. Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip since Hamas’s cross-border attack has led to widespread food and water shortages, as well as the destruction of agricultural land and water infrastructure. More than 95% of the water in Gaza is unfit for consumption, while water salinisation and treatment plants have been shut down due to fuel shortages imposed by Israel, and in some cases partially destroyed by the bombardment.
“As Indigenous people of the world, we are heartbroken to see the genocide and ecoside in Palestine,” said Mesiah Burciaga-Hameed, who read out a statement on behalf of the Indigenous people’s caucus. “There is no climate justice without human rights.”
“There can be no climate justice on occupied land,” said Dylan Hamilton, a 19-year-old climate justice and trans rights activist from Scotland. “The youth stand with Palestine.”
The briefing ended with an emotional address from Tariq Luthun, a Palestinian American from Friends of the Earth Palestine, who said denying water to people was a form of collective punishment that has also been used in the US, for example the mass water shutoffs for overdue bills in Detroit and the lead contamination scandal in Flint, Michigan.
“What good is to be found in a green world if the roots are soaked in blood,” said Luthum. “I reject the notion that some people have to suffer so that others can prosper.”
The event ended with calls of “Viva viva Palestina”
Patrick Greenfield
The role that carbon markets will play in helping countries meet their Paris commitments is up for discussion at Cop28, and a series of forest deals made by a little-known member of Dubai’s ruling royal family is causing controversy.
Rights to an area of land larger than the size of the UK have been sold off to UAE-based firm Blue Carbon, which is chaired by Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al-Maktoum. So far, the exploratory deals cover a fifth of Zimbabwe, 10% of Liberia, 10% of Zambia and 8% of Tanzania, amounting to a total area the size of the UK.
In October, Blue Carbon signed its latest deal for “millions” of hectares of forest in Kenya. The company said it was also working on an agreement with Pakistan. More deals are expected in the coming months. Critics have called them a new “scramble for Africa”.
Blue Carbon is not alone. Today, Tanzania National Parks – which cares for famous parks like the Serengeti and Kilimanjaro – announced it has signed a deal to turn six protected areas into a 1.8m hectare carbon project, which would make it one of the largest in the world.
The Guardian has looked into the Sheikh’s business dealings, with concerns raised about his involvement selling Russian’s Sputnik V vaccine, acting as a dealmaker with Ghana, Guyana, Lebanon and Pakistan at lucrative premiums in 2021. One of the listed Blue Carbon advisors is an Italian fugitive.
Read more here:
This is Alan Evans now taking over from Damien Gayle for the rest of the day. You can reach me at [email protected], or on X (formerly Twitter) at @itsalanevans.
Our reporters Damian Carrington and Nina Lakhani have sent updates on the food situation on the ground:
If climate summits march, like armies, on their stomachs then Cop28 looks in good shape.
Unlike the first days of the disorganised Cop27 in Egypt, there is actually food. It’s mostly vegan too, a nod to the enormous impact meat has on the climate. An avocado, edamame and hummus sandwich was one offering.
It’s not all cheap, though. A coffee is $6 (£4.75), more expensive even than most cafes in New York, so delegates without big budgets are coming prepared with packed lunches and thermoses.
Carnivores are catered for though, and it’s halal – eg a chicken sausage roll. But it’s a clear improvement on the meat feast of Cop24 in Poland, and the beefburger vans of Cop27.
Nina Lakhani
Fossil fuels have turned Indigenous communities into sacrifice zones, endangering their land, water and air and fuelling displacement, one of Cop28’s first briefings has been told.
Brenna TwoBears, lead coordinator for the Indigenous Environmental Network in Oregon, was among Indigenous environmental experts who kicked off the first day of Cop28. They pledged their support for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and warned of the dangers market-based false solutions posed to Indigenous peoples and the global climate.
TwoBears said:
Indigenous people support the equitable phase out of coal, oil and gas without loopholes used to justify delays and false solutions and tech fixes that allow the fossil fuel regime to continue and grow, and which do not address the climate crisis… this must be accompanied by the fast track adoption of clean energy, a just transition in which no community or country is left behind.
Momentum has been building behind the proposal for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, with support from Indigenous organisations and communities facing some of the gravest threats from extreme weather events and slow-onset climate impacts, such as sea level rise and melting glaciers.
Eight nations – Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Tonga, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Niue, Antigua and Barbuda, and Timor-Leste – have also thrown their weight behind the idea.
Eriel Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action who is from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, an Arctic community where Canada exploits tar sands, said:
Carbon trading depends on the continued growth of emissions that will create more sacrifice zones. We cannot achieve a just transition without centring climate solutions on Indigenous and human rights.
