Big bang start: COP28 sees climate fund deal on day 1
DUBAI: In an unprecedented move, the 28th round of the UN Climate Change Conference approved the structure and details of the loss and damage fund to help poor countries cope with climate disasters at its opening session.
Traditionally, at the ceremonial opening of the COP, the host country takes over the presidency, the agenda for the talks is approved, and countries and negotiating groups set out their expectations. COP28 departed from the traditional fare with a quick round of pledges for the new fund.
More than $400 million was pledged with hosts the UAE and Germany each pledging $100 million.
Further pledges are expected from leaders at the World Climate Action Summit on Friday and Saturday.
«This has been a truly historic and remarkable day. We've waited a very long time for this day, in particular, small island states who are the canaries in the mine on climate change,» said Avinash Persaud, the Barbados prime minister's special envoy on climate change.
He was a member of the transitional committee constituted to design the fund after countries agreed to set up a dedicated fund to deal with loss and damage last year in Sharm El-Sheikh.
The fund, approved on Thursday, has set a target of a minimum of $100 billion a year in loss-and-damage funding by 2030.
«We won't get there overnight. That's a lot of money.
That's more than half of all the aid budgets in the entire world,» Persaud said. «What we are seeing is initial capitalisation of the fund that gets it started, gets people employed, get the process done.»
Developing countries have been clear that the funding for loss and damage must be in the form of grants as it is money critical to help developing countries recover and reconstruct after extreme and
