By Zanji Sinkala
For the first time since the inception of the Conference of the Parties (COP), a significant decision was made on the opening day of the conference, and this was the operationalization of the loss and damage fund- 32 years since the idea was first floated.
As a result, financial pledges have been pouring in, amounting to over $700 million so far.
“We note a historic and positive start to this conference where the Loss and Damage Fund was operationalized and initial financial commitments worth millions of dollars made within minutes, but we are concerned about the lack of progress on various issues of importance to our group, particularly on finance and adaptation,” said Hon. Collins Nzovu, Zambian Minister for Green Economy and Environment, at a press conference by the Africa Group of Negotiators (AGN) on behalf of Ephraim Shitima, outgoing AGN chair.“We reiterate that adaptation is a key priority for Africa and a critical component in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Adaptation is a matter of survival for us in Africa.”
The concept of loss and damage has gained prominence in international climate negotiations, particularly in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) was established in 2013 to address loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change, including the provision of support for vulnerable countries and communities.
Loss and damage, in the context of climate change, refer to the adverse impacts that result from both the immediate and long-term consequences of climate change.
These impacts go beyond what can be effectively mitigated or adapted to. Loss and damage encompass the irreversible or unrecoverable losses experienced by communities, ecosystems, and nations due to the impacts of climate change.According to a new report published by the University of Delaware’s Gerard J.
Mangone Climate Change Science and Policy Hub on 28th November 2023 called “Loss and Damage Today: How climate change is impacting output and capital”, Climate change is already causing GDP and capital wealth losses at the global level, with developing countries bearing the brunt of impacts.
The report further states that, globally, climate change has led to a population-weighted GDP loss of 6.3% in 2022. The unweighted percentage of global GDP lost is estimated at 1.8%, or about $1.5 trillion, and the difference between those two numbers reflects the uneven distribution of impacts, which concentrate in low-income countries and tropical regions that typically have more population and less GDP.
Without a doubt, least developed countries are exposed to an average population-weighted GDP loss of 8.3%, and Southeast Asia and Southern Africa are particularly affected, with countries losing an average 14.1% and 11.2% of their GDP, respectively.
“The world is trillions of dollars poorer because of climate change, and most of that burden has fallen on poor countries. I hope that this information can clarify the challenges that many countries already face today and the support they urgently need to address them,” said Dr. James Rising, author of the study and Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware.
In March 2023, when Tropical Cyclone Freddy struck Southeast Africa, Malawi experienced six months of rain in only six days. The hilly regions of Blantyre, Phalombe, and Mulanje witnessed the eruption of rocky mountains, causing the release of rolling rocks, boulders, mud, and water downstream, resulting in the destruction of everything in their path.
A staggering 2.3 million people were affected, with 659,000 individuals displaced, 669 fatalities, and over 500 people reported as missing, many of whom remain buried under the debris.
“I saw a lot of water and some people being washed away. Then I do not know what happened. I do not know who brought me here,” a 35-year-old Lukia Akimu narrated in an interview from a hospital bed in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Blantyre shortly after the cyclone hit.
In this catastrophic event, 260,000 houses were destroyed, transforming thousands of individuals into climate refugees overnight. Crops that were on the verge of harvest were swept away.
The overall cost of the damage was estimated at $507 million, and the expenses for recovery and reconstruction were projected to be $680 million. In May 2023, President Lazarus Chakwera stated that Malawi required approximately $700 million to recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy. However, the financial assistance from donors fell significantly short of this target.
Joe Thwaites, a senior advocate for international climate finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), emphasized in a press release, the diverse sources that could contribute to a climate fund for addressing the impacts of climate change.
He said that fossil fuel companies, which are deemed responsible for driving the climate crisis, should be compelled to contribute to the fund, either voluntarily or through government intervention if necessary.
“Governments, the private sector, and innovative sources — such as levies on international shipping and aviation emissions — can all contribute to the fund. Fossil fuel companies that have done the most to drive the climate crisis should also contribute – and if they do not do so voluntarily, governments should compel them to,” he said.
Wealthy countries most responsible for the climate crisis have currently committed just over $700 million to the loss and damage fund.
This amount represents less than 0.2% of the irreversible economic and non-economic losses that developing nations endure annually due to global heating.
Different estimates project the annual cost of the damage to range from $100 billion to $580 billion.
Yuan Ying, China Chief Representative of the East Asia division of the international environmental NGO Greenpeace said the $700 million was a drop in the ocean, compared to what was required.
“Statistics that we have show that as of 2022, the value of the loss and damage that the vulnerable countries have faced because of climate change reached $1.5 trillion. As to how much money is needed to cope with the loss and damage by 2030, some scholars have estimated the amount to be at least $290 billion (per year). If you compare that with what we have already raised in the pool, you’ll find that this amount of $700 million is far from enough,” Ying said.
Yuan went further to state her concerns about the clarity of the terms of validity for these pledges, implying that many intricacies concerning the loss and damage fund remained unresolved.
“Whether this money contributed by nations is a 1-year payment or a 2-year payment, or for a time period in the foreseeable future, and whether we need a medium- and long-term goal…All these issues will depend on the follow-up implementation steps,” Said Ying.
Julie-Anne Richards from the Loss and Damage Collaboration, a global network of researchers, lawyers, policymakers and activists, gave her opinion on the rising loss and damage caused by climate change.
“The growing loss and damage is the clearest indication that the Paris agreement isn’t working, and countries have not been stepping up,” said Richards.
In the same vein, Mohamed Adow, Director of climate and clean energy thinktank Power Shift Africa, gave his views on loss and damage, saying its costs would be kept in check if rich nations invested more in adaptation and mitigation.
“With the loss and damage fund established here [at COP28], it may seem like that story is over and countries can pat themselves on the back with a job well done. However, the bill for loss and damage will only increase if adaptation is not sufficiently funded and emissions are not urgently cut – they are part of the same puzzle being negotiated within the global stocktake discussions,” he said.“It’s like balancing scales. If rich nations invest more in adaptation and mitigation, it will keep the loss and damage costs in check.”
This story was produced with support from MESHA and IDRC Eastern and Southern Africa Office.
Picture caption: Hon. Collins Nzovu, Zambian Minister of Green Economy and Environment speaks during the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 at Expo City Dubai on December 08, 2023, In Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by COP28 / Mahmoud Khaled)
