Observations from COP28 on the Loss and Damage Fund-Climate Law Blog by Emma Shumway|Published December 20, 2023

Negotiations at the 28^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai, UAE, wrapped up early last week. Much has been written about the “UAE Consensus” that was adopted on the final day of COP28 and met with mixed reviews. There was, however, an important decision reached on day one of the two-week meeting regarding operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund. While the decision represents an important–and long overdue–step forward, there remains much work to be done.

While there is no formal UN definition of loss and damage, it is generally understood to encapsulate climate change impacts that cannot be addressed by mitigation or adaptation efforts. For developing countries and small island states, the consequences of stronger storms, rising sea levels, increasing temperatures and other climate-related phenomena will be difficult to endure, and the countries who will likely suffer the most are often the least responsible for climate change. The concept of a Loss and Damage Fund through which Parties provide monetary aid to those in need implicitly acknowledges this inequity.

Despite the fact that countries are already suffering losses due to climate change, the road to a Loss and Damage Fund has been relatively long. The formal concept of Loss and Damage originated in 2013 at COP19 in Warsaw, Poland, with the establishment of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM). WIM is the constituted body created to “address loss and damage associated with impacts of climate change, including extreme events and slow onset events, in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.” In 2019, at COP25 in Madrid, Spain, Parties established the technical arm of WIM, the Santiago Network, to catalyze technical assistance for loss and damage. In 2021, at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in response to increasing calls for financing, the Glasgow Dialogue was established to facilitate discussions surrounding the funding of loss and damage activities. The following year at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Parties agreed to establish a Loss and Damage fund and a Transitional Committee to make recommendations for operationalization at COP28. The Transitional Committee met five times in 2023 prior to submitting a report to the COP for consideration.