An agreement on the first day of the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai to launch a fund to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate change has totalled $726 million by Wednesday, December 6.
The agreement to operationalise a Loss and Damage fund to compensate the world’s poorest countries for the effects of climate change has been hailed as a significant step. In Dubai, the announcement was met with a standing ovation from delegates.
However, the amount of money committed to the fund has been criticised as still inadequate for the scale of what is needed.
Reacting to the loss and damage fund operationalisation, Nnimmo Bassey, director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), said COP28 is running on a basic agenda that is destined to leave the planet on life support in the best outcome scenario.
He said the COP also appears to favour false solutions such as carbon offsetting and related but unproven techno-fixes.
While noting the significant strides that greeted the COP28 opening plenary and pledges made so far, Mr Bassey said cash pledges made so far is still a drop in the ocean of the needed $400 billion per year.
“Although some would applaud the token offered so far, we do not ignore the fact that $400 million (the amount realised as of the day of the announcement) may just be equal to the price of one missile which the big polluters do not blink before exploding in territories to create more vulnerability rather than invert in building of resilience,” he said.
Bassey said: “It is conceivable that the pledges would be met by proceeds from the patently speculatory carbon trading that is seeing huge swathes of African land being grabbed in ways that can best be described as carbon colonialism.”
The agreement to establish a loss and damage fund was made at COP27 in Egypt last year after several years of debating on the issue.
“It’s a historic moment — but critical concerns must still be addressed,” said Harjeet Singh, Head of Global Political Strategy, Climate Action Network International, in his reaction to the operationalisation.
He said, “Rich countries have pushed for the World Bank to host this fund under the guise of ensuring a speedy response.
“Conversely, rich nations have also attempted to dilute their financial obligations and resisted defining a clear finance mobilisation scale.
The absence of a defined replenishment cycle raises serious questions about the Fund’s long-term sustainability.
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