Rich countries miss key deadline for loss and damage fund launch

Higher-income countries have missed a deadline to nominate their board members for the fledgling loss and damage fund, potentially creating delays in the fund’s bid to assist communities experiencing the adverse effects of climate change. After decades of pressure from climate-vulnerable, lower-income countries and years of negotiations, countries agreed to institute the fund at the 28th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP 28, and appoint a 26-member board to supervise it. Regional groups were asked to select their board representatives “as soon as possible” and the U.N.’s climate change arm, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was to convene the first meeting of the fund’s board after all members had been appointed, “but no later than 31 January 2024.” In its letter to regional groups, UNFCCC asked for all nominations to be submitted by Dec. 9, 2023. As of Feb. 9, 2024, developed countries are yet to choose any of their representatives. Meanwhile, developing countries have submitted nominations for 13 of their 14 seats. Alick Muvundika, the chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, an alliance of African countries in international climate negotiations, told Devex the group was “very concerned” by the delay. “The matter of prompt nominations was extensively discussed. …. Every group took the responsibility to act with speed,” Muvundika said. This could mean a three- or four-month delay, Muvundika explained, which “jeopardizes the robust milestones and targets for the board to be fully operational and disbursing funds [to] the victims of climate change.” Delays are not uncommon during international nomination processes, Daniel Lund, a Fijian climate adviser and one of the two board members for small island developing states, acknowledged, but stressed that this delay was “problematic.” There were similar delays in early 2023 after countries at COP 27 created a Transitional Committee to decide by COP 28 how the loss and damage fund would operate, and developing countries submitted their nominations several weeks after the deadline, Lund explained. “But this one is a bit more consequential,” he said. “This year needs to unfold with lots of deadlines and strategic decisions that must be taken.” He said the delay might impact the board’s schedule, and that as a consequence, the board will need to hit the ground running and hold meetings very close to each other, if not back-to-back, to keep up with deadlines. Loss and damage fund launch timeline Once all the nominations are in and the U.N. can convene the board’s first meeting, representatives will need to decide on its rules of procedure, administrative issues such as travel policies, and select the fund’s host country and executive director. It will then need to agree on substantive issues such as how funding will be allocated and how access to the fund would work. By June 2024, the World Bank — which has been asked to temporarily host the fund for its first four years — will confirm if it will be able to meet the conditions set out at COP 28. The fund’s board will then engage with the bank to negotiate the terms of the hosting agreement. The deadline for this decision is early August, at which point the bank will present a proposal of what the financial intermediary fund would look like. The hosting agreement would then need to be approved at COP 29 in November 2024. ‘An overabundance of interest’ A source who asked to remain anonymous said the delay likely depended on “an overabundance of interest because of the importance of the issue,” with many developed countries contending a limited number of seats, and some countries suggesting representation should be tied to contributions to the fund. Several developed countries' representatives to the transitional committee did not respond to Devex’s requests for comment on the delay. The board’s composition reflects geographies and country groupings. It will have 26 members, with developed countries entitled to 12 seats, and members of various lower-income countries groupings — Asia-Pacific States, African States, Latin American and Caribbean States, small-island developing states, and least-developed countries — being granted 13 representatives. The remaining seat is reserved for a lower-income country not included in the other regional groups, and this nomination is also yet to come in. Update, Feb. 9, 2024: This article has been updated to clarify that as of Feb. 9, 2024, representatives from developed countries have not yet been selected. Update, Feb. 14, 2024: This article has been updated to clarify that Daniel Lund is a Fijian climate adviser.