Actions will take place on Friday in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more to follow in a number of other African countries over the weekend. Denmark has become the first central government of a developed country to propose funding dedicated to “loss and damage” – which refers to those disasters from climate-related disasters that are so extreme that it is not possible to protect against them. At the UN general assembly, for which world leaders are converging on New York this week, the Danish government announced to philanthropists and poor countries that it would provide DKK 100m (£12m) specifically for loss and damage. Scotland also offered funds for loss and damage, pledging £2m at the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow last November, and the government of the Belgian Walloon region pledged €1m for the administration. Denmark is the first central or federal government to commit exclusively. The amounts are tiny compared to the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in losses that countries are expected to experience, but the symbolism is significant. At Cop26, governments agreed to create a framework to deal with loss and damage, but there was no agreement on a funding mechanism. Carolina Cecilio, of climate think tank E3G, said: “The Danish announcement is good news. It sends the right political message and could incentivize other countries to follow suit. [It] it is a step in the right direction and further adds to the potential for loss and damage. Now we just need more countries to follow through with funding commitments and get serious about supporting people in need.” Question marks remain over how the Danish funding would work, and some campaigners and experts worry that some of it appears to be earmarked for insurance schemes rather than representing direct aid. Matthew Samuda, minister in Jamaica’s Ministry of Economic Development, said: “Jamaica is pleased to see a developed nation step up to the plate and recognize the dire need to acknowledge the loss and damage. We hope that this will pave the way for commitments from other developed nations. While $13 million won’t cover the massive devastation we’re already experiencing from climate change, I’d like to thank Denmark for getting the ball rolling.” No other developed country has indicated that it is likely to follow Denmark’s lead. G7 governments may be more willing to provide funding to the “global shield” initiative backed by Germany, as G7 chair this year. The global shield is intended to provide funds for poor countries to become resilient to the damage of extreme weather events, for example by providing the funding needed by developing countries to meet their “preparedness plans”, and could also include a climate insurance system. related disasters. The loose definitions of the global shield mean that future funding related to the initiative could also qualify as “loss and damage” funding, Cecilio noted. Even if no other countries participate in the UN general assembly, they will face increasing pressure in all climate forums to address the losses and damages. Youth protests planned for this Friday, as world leaders fly home from New York, are a prelude to a continued push on the issue. Developing countries were not satisfied with the scant attention given to loss and damage at Cop26, where the focus was on rich countries’ commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The most important stories on the planet. Get all the week’s environmental news – the good, the bad and the must-haves Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. They see their next big opportunity at the UN’s Cop27 climate conference in Egypt in November. “Cop27 must act decisively on loss and damage to strengthen the collective commitment to leave no one behind,” said Yamide Dagnet, director of climate justice at the Open Society Foundations. He pointed to the floods in Pakistan as an example of loss and damage that rich countries have to deal with. “Within one day, a third of Pakistan was flooded and more people were affected than the entire population of Canada. When you wipe out an entire agricultural area, you set back already vulnerable people by decades.” Building on the Cop27 discussions, a group of island governments created a new initiative, called Rising Nations, launched at the UNGA on Wednesday, to prepare for the worst. Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands called for “a global settlement that would guarantee their nation-states a permanent existence beyond the habitable lives of their atolls.” At Cop27, countries will be asked to consider new global taxes as a way to finance damage and loss payments. Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, called in the UN general assembly for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies to provide the cash they need. A leaked discussion paper seen by the Guardian, prepared by developing countries, also raised the possibility of a global tax, on carbon emissions or air travel, to provide the required funds. An alternative is for existing development institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to raise money from donor countries. The vital issue must be to ensure cash flows where it is needed, according to Carlos Fuller, Belize’s UN representative. “There is already loss and damage in Belize,” he said. “Severe erosion is changing communities, drought and floods are affecting farmers and damaging infrastructure, coral bleaching and saltwater intrusion are affecting water supplies. These impacts undermine the quality of life of our people and the lifeblood of our economy. A Cop27 loss and damage financial mechanism must be created to provide support to the communities who did little to cause this crisis.”
