2023-11-30 20:33:35
COP28 President Sultan Al-Jaber during the opening ceremony in Dubai, November 30, 2023. GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP
Applause, a standing ovation and several hundred million dollars in promises. On the first day of the 28th world climate conference (COP28), a major decision on “loss and damage”, this damage, some of which is irreversible, caused by climate change, was adopted in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
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Following the recommendations made by a transition committee, the representatives of 198 States approved, Thursday, November 30, the framework allowing the operationalization of a fund aimed at financing these losses and damages. The first States immediately announced financial contributions.
“This is a historic decision that sends a positive signal to the world”rejoiced Sultan Al-Jaber, who chairs COP28. “This adoption is a very big boost to launch the COP in the right direction”also greeted Meena Raman, program director of the Third World Network and president of the Malaysian branch of Friends of the Earth.
A year of tense discussions
The decision to create a fund for losses and damages, demanded for thirty years by developing countries, was taken a year ago, during the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt). Since then, a transitional committee, made up of representatives from countries in the South and the North, has worked to make it a reality. After a year of extremely tense discussions, a “last chance meeting” finally made it possible to reach a consensus in early November.
Developing countries have notably accepted that the fund will not be independent, but hosted for four years by the World Bank, and that the contribution of rich countries will be made on a voluntary basis.
The conditions of this agreement are far from having fully satisfied the most vulnerable countries, facing the full brunt of the effects of global warming, and civil society organizations. They recalled on Thursday that the framework did not provide for any precise target concerning financing, nor any obligation towards developed countries. All parties, however, agreed that reopening discussions during the COP was not desirable, as the negotiations risked getting bogged down.
Announced contributions
“The agreement reached is far from perfect but it represents progress, confirms Rachel Cleetus, member of the Climate Action Network and the Union for Concerned Scientists organization. We want to see this fund working to help those on the front lines of the climate crisis. And we will continue to fight for it to be improved and funded. »
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